THE LEPTIN GENE IS A MARKER FOR THE CELL THERAPY OF METABOLIC SYNDROME
It is shown that the level of the Lep gene expression is a marker for B/Ks-Leprᵈᵇ/+ mice, which line serves as an optimal model for describing metabolic syndrome (MS) in preclinical studies. Mice were transplanted with cultured isogenic bone marrow cells (BMC) from heterozygous db/+ donors. The recipients were divided into two groups according to an early or advanced stage of MS development. We analyzed the expression of the Lep gene on the 3rd, 8th and 14th day following the administration of stem BMCs in the brain, liver and pancreas cells by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in real time. The Lep gene expression was evaluated in terms of the number of cDNA copies. According to our data, leptin is a complete regulator of metabolic processes due to its effect on the hypothalamus, which, together with the hippocampus, controls the production of acetylcholine and insulin in the brain. We have proven the role of the Lep gene as a quantitative criterion for evaluating the effi cacy of a cell therapy in MS.