scholarly journals Multiple Leptin Signalling Pathways in the Control of Metabolism and Fertility: A Means to Different Ends?

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (17) ◽  
pp. 9210
Author(s):  
Maggie C. Evans ◽  
Rebecca A. Lord ◽  
Greg M. Anderson

The adipocyte-derived ‘satiety promoting’ hormone, leptin, has been identified as a key central regulator of body weight and fertility, such that its absence leads to obesity and infertility. Plasma leptin levels reflect body adiposity, and therefore act as an ‘adipostat’, whereby low leptin levels reflect a state of low body adiposity (under-nutrition/starvation) and elevated leptin levels reflect a state of high body adiposity (over-nutrition/obesity). While genetic leptin deficiency is rare, obesity-related leptin resistance is becoming increasingly common. In the absence of adequate leptin sensitivity, leptin is unable to exert its ‘anti-obesity’ effects, thereby exacerbating obesity. Furthermore, extreme leptin resistance and consequent low or absent leptin signalling resembles a state of starvation and can thus lead to infertility. However, leptin resistance occurs on a spectrum, and it is possible to be resistant to leptin’s metabolic effects while retaining leptin’s permissive effects on fertility. This may be because leptin exerts its modulatory effects on energy homeostasis and reproductive function through discrete intracellular signalling pathways, and these pathways are differentially affected by the molecules that promote leptin resistance. This review discusses the potential mechanisms that enable leptin to exert differential control over metabolic and reproductive function in the contexts of healthy leptin signalling and of diet-induced leptin resistance.

2019 ◽  
Vol 241 (3) ◽  
pp. R81-R96 ◽  
Author(s):  
María F Andreoli ◽  
Jose Donato ◽  
Isin Cakir ◽  
Mario Perello

Leptin resistance refers to states in which leptin fails to promote its anticipated effects, frequently coexisting with hyperleptinaemia. Leptin resistance is closely associated with obesity and also observed in physiological situations such as pregnancy and in seasonal animals. Leptin resensitisation refers to the reversion of leptin-resistant states and is associated with improvement in endocrine and metabolic disturbances commonly observed in obesity and a sustained decrease of plasma leptin levels, possibly below a critical threshold level. In obesity, leptin resensitisation can be achieved with treatments that reduce body adiposity and leptinaemia, or with some pharmacological compounds, while physiological leptin resistance reverts spontaneously. The restoration of leptin sensitivity could be a useful strategy to treat obesity, maintain weight loss and/or reduce the recidivism rate for weight regain after dieting. This review provides an update and discussion about reversion of leptin-resistant states and modulation of the molecular mechanisms involved in each situation.


2004 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ren

The obese gene product, leptin, plays a central role in food intake and energy metabolism. The physiological roles of leptin in human bodily function have been broadened over the past decade since leptin was first discovered in 1994. Evidence has suggested that leptin plays a specific role in the intricate cascade of cardiovascular events, in addition to its well-established metabolic effects. Leptin, a hormone linking adiposity and central nervous circuits to reduce appetite and enhance energy expenditure, has been shown to increase overall sympathetic nerve activity, facilitate glucose utilization and improve insulin sensitivity. In addition, leptin is capable of regulating cardiac and vascular contractility through a local nitric oxide-dependent mechanism. However, elevated plasma leptin levels or hyperleptinemia, have been demonstrated to correlate with hyperphagia, insulin resistance and other markers of the metabolic syndrome including obesity, hyperlipidemia and hypertension, independent of total adiposity. Elevated plasma leptin levels may be an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Although mechanisms leading to hyperleptinemia have not been well described, factors such as increased food intake and insulin resistance have been shown to rapidly enhance plasma leptin levels and subsequently tissue leptin resistance. These findings have prompted the speculation that leptin in the physiological range may serve as a physiological regulator of cardiovascular function whereas elevated plasma leptin levels may act as a pathophysiological trigger and/or marker for cardiovascular diseases due to tissue leptin resistance.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Torres ◽  
Matthew W. Pitts ◽  
Ann C. Hashimoto ◽  
Marla J. Berry

Selenium, an essential trace element known mainly for its antioxidant properties, is critical for proper brain function and regulation of energy metabolism. Whole-body knockout of the selenium recycling enzyme, selenocysteine lyase (Scly), increases susceptibility to metabolic syndrome and diet-induced obesity in mice. Scly knockout mice also have decreased selenoprotein expression levels in the hypothalamus, a key regulator of energy homeostasis. This study investigated the role of selenium in whole-body metabolism regulation using a mouse model with hypothalamic knockout of Scly. Agouti-related peptide (Agrp) promoter-driven Scly knockout resulted in reduced weight gain and adiposity while on a high-fat diet (HFD). Scly-Agrp knockout mice had reduced Agrp expression in the hypothalamus, as measured by Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC). IHC also revealed that while control mice developed HFD-induced leptin resistance in the arcuate nucleus, Scly-Agrp knockout mice maintained leptin sensitivity. Brown adipose tissue from Scly-Agrp knockout mice had reduced lipid deposition and increased expression of the thermogenic marker uncoupled protein-1. This study sheds light on the important role of selenium utilization in energy homeostasis, provides new information on the interplay between the central nervous system and whole-body metabolism, and may help identify key targets of interest for therapeutic treatment of metabolic disorders.


Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ardid-Ruiz ◽  
Maria Ibars ◽  
Pedro Mena ◽  
Daniele Del Rio ◽  
Begoña Muguerza ◽  
...  

Bioactive compounds such as polyphenols have increased in importance in recent years, and among them, resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) has generated great interest as an anti-obesity agent. Recent investigations have highlighted the importance of leptin signaling in lipid metabolism in peripheral organs. The aims of this study were (1) to investigate whether resveratrol can reduce fat accumulation in peripheral tissues by increasing their leptin sensitivity and (2) to identify which resveratrol-derived circulating metabolites are potentially involved in these metabolic effects. Serum leptin levels and the leptin signaling pathway were assessed in diet-induced obese rats. Moreover, serum metabolites of resveratrol were studied by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MSn). The daily consumption of 200 mg/kg of resveratrol, but not doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg, reduced body weight and fat accumulation in obese rats and restored leptin sensitivity in the periphery. These effects were due to increases in sirtuin 1 activity in the liver, leptin receptors in muscle and protection against endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress in adipose tissue. In general, the resveratrol metabolites associated with these beneficial effects were derived from both phase II and microbiota metabolism, although only those derived from microbiota increased proportionally with the administered dose of resveratrol. In conclusion, resveratrol reversed leptin resistance caused by diet-induced obesity in peripheral organs using tissue-specific mechanisms.


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christa M. Patterson ◽  
Sebastien G. Bouret ◽  
Sunny Park ◽  
Boman G. Irani ◽  
Ambrose A. Dunn-Meynell ◽  
...  

Abstract Because rearing rats in large litters (LLs) protects them from becoming obese, we postulated that LL rearing would protect rats selectively bred to develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) from becoming obese by overcoming their inborn central leptin resistance. Male and female DIO rats were raised in normal litters (10 pups/dam) or LLs (16 pups/dam) and assessed for anatomical, biochemical, and functional aspects of leptin sensitivity at various ages when fed low-fat chow or a 31% fat high-energy (HE) diet. LL rearing reduced plasma leptin levels by postnatal d 2 (P) 2 and body weight gain by P8. At P16, LL DIO neonates had increased arcuate nucleus (ARC) binding of leptin to its extracellular receptors and at P28 an associated increase of their agouti-related peptide and α-MSH axonal projections to the paraventricular nucleus. Reduced body weight persisted and was associated with increased ARC leptin receptor binding and sensitivity to the anorectic effects of leptin, reduced adiposity, and enhanced insulin sensitivity in LL DIO rats fed chow until 10 wk of age. The enhanced ARC leptin receptor binding and reduced adiposity of LL DIO rats persisted after an additional 5 wk on the HE diet. Female LL DIO rats had similar reductions in weight gain on both chow and HE diet vs. normal litter DIO rats. We postulate that LL rearing enhances DIO leptin sensitivity by lowering plasma leptin levels and thereby increasing leptin receptor availability and that this both enhances the ARC-paraventricular nucleus pathway development and protects them from becoming obese.


2014 ◽  
Vol 223 (1) ◽  
pp. T37-T48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid F Chehab

The association between leptin and reproduction originated with the leptin-mediated correction of sterility inob/obmice and initiation of reproductive function in normal female mice. The uncovering of a central leptin pathway regulating food intake prompted the dissection of neuroendocrine mechanisms involving leptin in the metabolic control of reproduction. The absence of leptin receptors on GnRH neurons incited a search for intermediary neurons situated between leptin-responsive and GnRH neurons. This review addresses the most significant findings that have furthered our understanding of recent progress in this new field. The role of leptin in puberty was impacted by the discovery of neurons that co-express kisspeptin, neurokinin B, and dynorphin and these could act as leptin intermediates. Furthermore, the identification of first-order leptin-responsive neurons in the premammilary ventral nucleus and other brain regions opens new avenues to explore their relationship to GnRH neurons. Central to these advances is the unveiling that agouti-related protein/neuropeptide Y neurons project onto GnRH and kisspeptin neurons, allowing for a crosstalk between food intake and reproduction. Finally, while puberty is a state of leptin sensitivity, mid-gestation represents a state of leptin resistance aimed at building energy stores to sustain pregnancy and lactation. The mechanisms underlying leptin resistance in pregnancy have lagged; however, the establishment of this natural state is significant. Reproduction and energy balance are tightly controlled and backed up by redundant mechanisms that are critical for the survival of our species. It will be the goal of the following decade to shed new light on these complex and essential pathways.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (34) ◽  
pp. 20874-20880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sedona N. Ewbank ◽  
Carlos A. Campos ◽  
Jane Y. Chen ◽  
Anna J. Bowen ◽  
Stephanie L. Padilla ◽  
...  

Maintaining energy homeostasis requires coordinating physiology and behavior both on an acute timescale to adapt to rapid fluctuations in caloric intake and on a chronic timescale to regulate body composition. Hypothalamic agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-expressing neurons are acutely activated by caloric need, and this acute activation promotes increased food intake and decreased energy expenditure. On a longer timescale, AgRP neurons exhibit chronic hyperactivity under conditions of obesity and high dietary fat consumption, likely due to leptin resistance; however, the behavioral and metabolic effects of chronic AgRP neuronal hyperactivity remain unexplored. Here, we use chemogenetics to manipulate Gqsignaling in AgRP neurons in mice to explore the hypothesis that chronic activation of AgRP neurons promotes obesity. Inducing chronic Gqsignaling in AgRP neurons initially increased food intake and caused dramatic weight gain, in agreement with published data; however, food intake returned to baseline levels within 1 wk, and body weight returned to baseline levels within 60 d. Additionally, we found that, when mice had elevated body weight due to chronic Gqsignaling in AgRP neurons, energy expenditure was not altered but adiposity and lipid metabolism were both increased, even under caloric restriction. These findings reveal that the metabolic and behavioral effects of chronic Gqsignaling in AgRP neurons are distinct from the previously reported effects of acute Gqsignaling and also of leptin insensitivity.


2002 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 9-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy S Salvesen

The ability of metazoan cells to undergo programmed cell death is vital to both the precise development and long-term survival of the mature adult. Cell deaths that result from engagement of this programme end in apoptosis, the ordered dismantling of the cell that results in its 'silent' demise, in which packaged cell fragments are removed by phagocytosis. This co-ordinated demise is mediated by members of a family of cysteine proteases known as caspases, whose activation follows characteristic apoptotic stimuli, and whose substrates include many proteins, the limited cleavage of which causes the characteristic morphology of apoptosis. In vertebrates, a subset of caspases has evolved to participate in the activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and thus members of the caspase family participate in one of two very distinct intracellular signalling pathways.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Eaton-Fitch ◽  
Hélène Cabanas ◽  
Stanley du Preez ◽  
Donald Staines ◽  
Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik

Abstract Background Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious multifactorial disorder. The origin remains ambiguous, however reduced natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity is a consistent immunological feature of ME/CFS. Impaired transient receptor potential melastatin 3 (TRPM3), a phosphatidylinositol dependent channel, and impaired calcium mobilisation have been implicated in ME/CFS pathology. This investigation aimed to examine the localisation of TRPM3 at the NK cell plasma membrane and co-localisation with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). The effect of IL-2 priming and treatment using pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) and ononetin on TRPM3 co-localisation and NK cell cytotoxicity in ME/CFS patients and healthy controls (HC) was also investigated. Methods NK cells were isolated from 15 ME/CFS patients and 15 age- and sex-matched HC. Immunofluorescent technique was used to determine co-localisation of TRPM3 with the NK cell membrane and with PIP2 of ME/CFS patients and HC. Flow cytometry was used to determine NK cell cytotoxicity. Following IL-2 stimulation and treatment with PregS and ononetin changes in co-localisation and NK cell cytotoxicity were measured. Results Overnight treatment of NK cells with PregS and ononetin resulted in reduced co-localisation of TRPM3 with PIP2 and actin in HC. Co-localisation of TRPM3 with PIP2 in NK cells was significantly reduced in ME/CFS patients compared with HC following priming with IL-2. A significant increase in co-localisation of TRPM3 with PIP2 was reported following overnight treatment with ononetin within ME/CFS patients and between groups. Baseline NK cell cytotoxicity was significantly reduced in ME/CFS patients; however, no changes were observed following overnight incubation with IL-2, PregS and ononetin between HC and ME/CFS patients. IL-2 stimulation significantly enhanced NK cell cytotoxicity in HC and ME/CFS patients. Conclusion Significant changes in co-localisation suggest PIP2-dependent TRPM3 function may be impaired in ME/CFS patients. Stimulation of NK cells with IL-2 significantly enhanced cytotoxic function in ME/CFS patients demonstrating normal function compared with HC. A crosstalk exists between IL-2 and TRPM3 intracellular signalling pathways which are dependent on Ca2+ influx and PIP2. While IL-2R responds to IL-2 binding in vitro, Ca2+ dysregulation and impaired intracellular signalling pathways impede NK cell function in ME/CFS patients.


1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (2) ◽  
pp. R412-R419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry E. Levin ◽  
Richard E. Keesey

Among outbred Sprague-Dawley rats, approximately one-half develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) and one-half are diet resistant (DR) on a diet relatively high in fat and energy content (HE diet). Here we examined the defense of body weight in these two phenotypes. After HE diet for 13 wk, followed by chow for 6 wk, DR rats gained weight comparably but their plasma leptin levels fell to 54% of chow-fed controls. When a palatable liquid diet (Ensure) was added for 13 wk, other DR rats became obese. But when switched to chow, their intakes fell by 60%, and body and retroperitoneal (RP) fat pad weights and plasma leptin and insulin levels all declined for 2 wk and then stabilized at control levels after 6 wk. In contrast, comparably obese DIO rats decreased their intake by only 20%, and their weights plateaued when they were switched to chow after 13 wk on HE diet. When a subgroup of these DIO rats was restricted to 60% of prior intake, their weights fell to chow-fed control levels over 2 wk. But their leptin and insulin levels both fell disproportionately to 30% of controls. When no longer restricted, their intake and feed efficiency rose immediately, and their body and RP pad weights and leptin and insulin levels rose to those of unrestricted DIO rats within 2 wk. Thus diet and genetic background interact to establish high (DIO) or low (DR) body weight set points, which are then defended against subsequent changes in diet composition and/or energy availability. If leptin affects energy homeostasis, it does so differentially in DIO vs. DR rats since comparably low and high levels were associated with differing patterns of weight change between the two phenotypes.


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