title: Leptin reverses insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in patients with severe lipodystrophy.
abstract: Lipodystrophy is a rare disorder that is characterized by selective loss of subcutaneous and visceral fat and is associated with hypertriglyceridemia, hepatomegaly, and disordered glucose metabolism. It has recently been shown that chronic leptin treatment ameliorates these abnormalities. Here we show that chronic leptin treatment improves insulin-stimulated hepatic and peripheral glucose metabolism in severely insulin-resistant lipodystrophic patients. This improvement in insulin action was associated with a marked reduction in hepatic and muscle triglyceride content. These data suggest that leptin may represent an important new therapy to reverse the severe hepatic and muscle insulin resistance and associated hepatic steatosis in patients with lipodystrophy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8020, USA. kitt.petersen@yale.edu
authors.forename: Kitt Falk
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Elif Arioglu
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Oral
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dufour
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Befroy
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ariyan
authors.forename: Chunli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Gary W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Cline
authors.forename: Alex M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: DePaoli
authors.forename: Simeon I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gorden
authors.forename: Gerald I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Shulman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D020738:Leptin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008060:Lipodystrophy / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin