Denroche HC, Kwon MM, Glavas MM, Tudurí E, Philippe M, Quong WL, Kieffer TJ. The role of autonomic efferents and uncoupling protein 1 in the glucose-lowering effect of leptin therapy.
Mol Metab 2016;
5:716-724. [PMID:
27656409 PMCID:
PMC5021671 DOI:
10.1016/j.molmet.2016.06.009]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2016] [Accepted: 06/19/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective
Leptin reverses hyperglycemia in rodent models of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Direct application of leptin to the brain can lower blood glucose in diabetic rodents, and can activate autonomic efferents and non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT). We investigated whether leptin reverses hyperglycemia through a mechanism that requires autonomic innervation, or uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-mediated thermogenesis.
Methods
To examine the role of parasympathetic and sympathetic efferents in the glucose-lowering action of leptin, mice with a subdiaphragmatic vagotomy or 6-hydroxydopamine induced chemical sympathectomy were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce hyperglycemia, and subsequently leptin treated. To test whether the glucose-lowering action of leptin requires activation of UCP1-mediated thermogenesis in BAT, we administered leptin in STZ-diabetic Ucp1 knockout (Ucp1−/−) mice and wildtype controls.
Results
Leptin ameliorated STZ-induced hyperglycemia in both intact and vagotomised mice. Similarly, mice with a partial chemical sympathectomy did not have an attenuated response to leptin-mediated glucose lowering relative to sham controls, and showed intact leptin-induced Ucp1 expression in BAT. Although leptin activated BAT thermogenesis in STZ-diabetic mice, the anti-diabetic effect of leptin was not blunted in Ucp1−/− mice.
Conclusions
These results suggest that leptin lowers blood glucose in insulin-deficient diabetes through a manner that does not require parasympathetic or sympathetic innervation, and thus imply that leptin lowers blood glucose through an alternative CNS-mediated mechanism or redundant target tissues. Furthermore, we conclude that the glucose lowering action of leptin is independent of UCP1-dependent thermogenesis.
Leptin does not require vagal innervation to reverse hyperglycemia.
Leptin therapy reverses hyperglycemia in mice with a partial chemical sympathectomy.
Leptin reverses hyperglycemia independent of uncoupling protein 1.
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