Activation of leptin expression by an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1.
Leptin may regulate peripheral fatty acid oxidation and invoke a feedback mechanism that affects leptin expression in adipocytes. The objective of this study, therefore, was to determine whether inhibiting systemic fatty acid oxidation at the level of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) affects leptin expression. To accomplish this objective, fed or overnight fasted rats were treated with 2-tetradecylglycidic acid (TDGA), a specific, irreversible CPT1 inhibitor, and acute changes in rat epididymal leptin expression and serum leptin content were measured using Northern, RT-PCR, and radioimmunoassay analyses. Overnight fasting decreased both epididymal leptin mRNA content and serum leptin. Treating overnight fasted rats with TDGA increased both their epididymal leptin mRNA and their serum leptin significantly in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. TDGA affected neither epididymal leptin mRNA nor serum leptin in fed rats where systemic fatty acid oxidation is low. These results support the conclusion that CPT1-linked fatty acid oxidation is a key modulator of leptin expression in fasting rats.
Wolkowicz
P
P
Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. wolk@uab.edu
Grenett
H
H
Belousova
M
M
Urthaler
F
F
D000818:Animals; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004822:Epididymis / Q000378:metabolism; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction / Q000187:drug effects; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D005227:Fatty Acids; D020738:Leptin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase; C021756:2-tetradecylglycidic acid