Journal of Stress Physiology &
Biochemistry, Vol. 9 No. 4
2013, pp. 101-114 ISSN 1997-0838
Original Text Copyright (cc) 2013 by Tang, Tang, Li, Wang
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
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QueryDate : 2016-12-24
Cites : 1
Role of Leptin in Metabolic
Adaptation During Cold Acclimation
Gang-Bin Tang 1,
Xiang-Fang Tang 2, Kui Li 2, De-Hua Wang 1*
1 State Key Laboratory of
Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of
Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang,
Beijing 100101, China 2 State Key Laboratory of
Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal
Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 2
Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian, Beijing 100193, China
Chronic cold
exposure stimulates thermogenesis in
brown adipose tissue, resulting in fat
mobilization and compensatory hyperphagia.
Mostly, these physiological events are
accompanied by a remarkable reduction in serum leptin levels. However,
the physiological roles of hypoleptinemia in cold adaptation are still
not fully clear. We hypothesized that leptin is the keystone of the
regulatory systems linking energy balance to cold adaptation.
Leptin treatment (5μg/day) decreased food intake,
body weight, serum ghrelin levels and
hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) gene expression. Food
restriction in the pair-fed group mimicked most
of the effects induced by leptin
treatment. Central coadministration of ghrelin (1.2 μg/day)
partially reversed the effect of leptin on hypothalamic MCH mRNA, but
it did not block the reducing effects of leptin on food intake, body
weight and serum ghrelin levels. In
addition, hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin
gene expression increased significantly in response to the
coadministration of leptin and ghrelin. Collectively, we conclude that
the regulatory effects of leptin on energy balance in cold-acclimated
rats are dependent on feeding, which may
involve the reduction of hypothalamic
MCH gene expression. We found no evidence for ghrelin involvement
in the regulation of leptin on food intake and body weight during cold
acclimation.
