Comparing adiposity profiles in three mouse models with altered GH signaling

Effects of caloric restriction on insulin pathway gene expression in the skeletal muscle and liver of normal and long-lived GHR-KO mice

Growth hormone receptor/binding protein knockout (GHR-KO) mice are characterized by resistance to growth hormone (GH), reduced insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) levels and enhanced insulin sensitivity and markedly increased lifespan. Findings in these and other long-lived mutant mice, and in normal animals subjected to caloric restriction (CR) indicate that insulin signaling is importantly involved in the control of longevity. We have examined the mRNA expression level of genes involved in insulin/IGF1 action in the skeletal muscle and liver of normal and GHR-KO mice fed ad libitum or subjected to long term 30% CR. The levels of IR, IRS1, IRS2, GLUT4 and IGF1 message in the skeletal muscle were reduced by CR in both normal and GHR-KO mice. In the liver, the results indicate that in GHR-KO mice mRNA expression of genes related to early steps of insulin signaling is up-regulated in the liver but not in the muscle. The results also show that improved insulin sensitivity in response to CR is not due to increased mRNA expression of the above genes in either normal or GHR-KO animals.

Ageing and metabolism: drug discovery opportunities

There has recently been significant progress in our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate ageing, and it has been shown that changes in single genes can dramatically extend lifespan and increase resistance to many diseases. Furthermore, many of these genes belong to evolutionarily conserved pathways that also control energy metabolism. In this review, we describe the shared molecular machinery that regulates ageing and energy metabolism. Although drugs to slow ageing face severe regulatory hurdles, it is likely that an understanding of ageing pathways will help to identify novel drug targets to treat metabolic disorders and other age-related diseases.

Growth hormone overexpression in the central nervous system results in hyperphagia-induced obesity associated with insulin resistance and dyslipidemia

It is well known that peripherally administered growth hormone (GH) results in decreased body fat mass. However, GH-deficient patients increase their food intake when substituted with GH, suggesting that GH also has an appetite stimulating effect. Transgenic mice with an overexpression of bovine GH in the central nervous system (CNS) were created to investigate the role of GH in CNS. This study shows that overexpression of GH in the CNS differentiates the effect of GH on body fat mass from that on appetite. The transgenic mice were not GH-deficient but were obese and showed increased food intake as well as increased hypothalamic expression of agouti-related protein and neuropeptide Y. GH also had an acute effect on food intake following intracerebroventricular injection of C57BL/6 mice. The transgenic mice were severely hyperinsulinemic and showed a marked hyperplasia of the islets of Langerhans. In addition, the transgenic mice displayed alterations in serum lipid and lipoprotein levels and hepatic gene expression. In conclusion, GH overexpression in the CNS results in hyperphagia-induced obesity indicating a dual effect of GH with a central stimulation of appetite and a peripheral lipolytic effect.