Leptin reverses insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in patients with severe lipodystrophy.
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.
Petersen
Kitt Falk
KF
Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8020, USA. kitt.petersen@yale.edu
Oral
Elif Arioglu
EA
Dufour
Sylvie
S
Befroy
Douglas
D
Ariyan
Charlotte
C
Yu
Chunli
C
Cline
Gary W
GW
DePaoli
Alex M
AM
Taylor
Simeon I
SI
Gorden
Phillip
P
Shulman
Gerald I
GI
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
D020738:Leptin