title: The weight of leptin in immunity.
abstract: Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone/cytokine that links nutritional status with neuroendocrine and immune functions. As a hormone, leptin regulates food intake and basal metabolism, and is sexually dimorphic - that is, its serum concentration is higher in females than in males with a similar body fat mass. As a cytokine, leptin can affect thymic homeostasis and the secretion of acute-phase reactants such as interleukin-1 and tumour-necrosis factor. Similar to other pro-inflammatory cytokines, leptin promotes T helper 1 (TH1)-cell differentiation and can modulate the onset and progression of autoimmune responses in several animal models of disease. Here, we review the advances and controversy for a role of leptin in the pathophysiology of immune responses.
authors.affiliation: Autoimmunity and Tolerance Laboratory, Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, 1000 Veteran Avenue 32-59, Los Angeles, California 90095-1670, USA. alacava@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Cava
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matarese
mesh_terms: D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology*; D020738:Leptin / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000276:immunology*; D054411:Receptors, Leptin; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; C515448:LEPR protein, human; D020738:Leptin; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D054411:Receptors, Leptin