title: Central leptin gene therapy corrects skeletal abnormalities in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice.
abstract: Skeletal growth is tightly coupled to energy balance via complex and incompletely understood mechanisms. Leptin-deficient ob/ob mice are obese and develop multiple pathologies associated with the metabolic syndrome. Additionally, ob/ob mice have skeletal abnormalities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of leptin deficiency and long duration selective central leptin repletion via recombinant adeno-associated virus-leptin (rAAV-lep) gene therapy on bone in growing ob/ob mice. The ob/ob mice were injected in the hypothalamus with either rAAV-lep or rAAV-GFP (control vector). Treated ob/ob and untreated wild-type (WT) mice were then maintained on a normal diet for 15 weeks. In a second experiment, similarly treated mice along with a group of pair-fed mice were maintained for 30 weeks. Leptin was not detected in blood of either rAAV-lep- or rAAV-GFP-treated mice although rAAV-lep-treated mice displayed leptin transgene expression in the hypothalamus. As expected, rAAV-lep normalized body weight and food intake. Compared to WT mice, rAAV-GFP-treated ob/ob mice had decreased femoral length (by 1.6 mm or 10%, P<0.001), decreased total femur bone volume (by 3.3 mm(3) or 19%, P<0.001), but increased cancellous bone volume in the distal femur (by 0.04 mm(3) or 60%, P<0.09) and lumbar vertebrae (by 0.26 mm(3) or 118%, P<0.001). Treatment with rAAV-lep rescued the ob/ob skeletal phenotype by increasing femoral length and total bone volume, and decreasing femoral and vertebral cancellous bone volume, so that at 15 weeks post-rAAV-lep injection the ob/ob mice no longer differed from WT mice. No further skeletal changes in either the femur or lumbar vertebra were observed at 30 weeks post-rAAV-lep administration. The results suggest that hypothalamic leptin functions as an essential permissive factor for normal bone growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. urszula.iwaniec@oregonstate.edu
authors.forename: Urszula T
authors.initials: UT
authors.lastname: Iwaniec
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boghossian
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Lapke
authors.forename: Russell T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Satya P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kalra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000628:therapy*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000378:metabolism; D000229:Dependovirus / Q000235:genetics; D005269:Femur / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000378:metabolism; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D020738:Leptin / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008820:Mice, Obese; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin