title: Regulation of circulating leptin and its soluble receptor during pubertal development in the male rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta).
abstract: In humans, circulating leptin levels are low in early childhood and rise until puberty, whereas the reverse occurs for the soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R). In women, leptin remains high and sOB-R remains low, but in men leptin declines after adolescence and sOB-R increases. These observations suggest that leptin may regulate the production of sOB-R, and that the increased testosterone in adolescent boys may be responsible for the gender differences in leptin and sOB-R. To test this hypothesis, leptin was administered continuously to agonadal juvenile male monkeys for 16 days. No change in sOB-R was observed. Intact juvenile male monkeys were given pulsatile doses of gonadotropins for a period of 7 weeks to induce precocious puberty and assess the effect on plasma testosterone, leptin, and sOB-R. By 4 weeks testosterone had reached adult levels. No changes were observed in leptin, but by week 4, sOB-R was higher than pretreatment values and remained higher at week 7. These data suggest that leptin may not play a significant role in regulating the production of sOB-R and that gender differences in sOB-R in humans may be driven by the increased production of testosterone at puberty in males.
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Reproductive Science Research Center, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30310-1495, USA. dmann@msm.edu
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Ganapathy K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramaswamy
authors.forename: Christine D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Stah
authors.forename: Tony M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Plant
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006058:Gonadal Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D007260:Infusion Pumps; D020738:Leptin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D054411:Receptors, Leptin; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012995:Solubility; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D054411:Receptors, Leptin; D013739:Testosterone