Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Mar;143(3):775-83.
doi: 10.1210/endo.143.3.8669.

Characterizaton of short isoforms of the leptin receptor in rat cerebral microvessels and of brain uptake of leptin in mouse models of obesity

Stanley M Hileman  1 , Dominique D Pierroz, Hiroaki Masuzaki, Christian Bjørbaek, Karim El-Haschimi, William A Banks, Jeffrey S Flier
Affiliations

Characterizaton of short isoforms of the leptin receptor in rat cerebral microvessels and of brain uptake of leptin in mouse models of obesity

Stanley M Hileman et al. Endocrinology. 2002 Mar.

Abstract

Leptin deficiency causes obesity in rodents and humans, but circulating levels of leptin are paradoxically elevated in obesity. The mechanisms underlying this leptin resistance are unknown, but may involve reduced leptin transport across the blood-brain barrier via short isoforms of the leptin receptor (Ob-R). Here, we first quantified short Ob-R mRNA expression in isolated rat cerebral microvessels constituting the blood-brain barrier and found that Ob-Ra and Ob-Rc mRNA were abundantly expressed in similar amounts. Second, brain uptake of leptin was reduced in mice lacking Ob-R. Third, brain uptake of leptin in New Zealand Obese mice, a strain that responds to central, but not peripheral, leptin, was reduced, suggesting that their obesity is at least partly due to deficient leptin transport into the brain. Fourth, brain uptake of leptin was significantly reduced in diet-induced obese mice. Neither New Zealand Obese mice nor diet-induced obese mice exhibited significant decreases in Ob-R mRNA expression in isolated cerebral microvessels. These data support the ideas that short isoforms of Ob-R are involved in brain uptake of leptin and that impaired blood-brain barrier function contributes to the pathogenesis of obesity. However, the mechanisms by which obesity-related deficits in brain uptake of leptin occur remain to be defined.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

-