title: Leptin is essential in maintaining normal vascular compliance independent of body weight.
abstract: The adipocytokine leptin centrally regulates body weight by enhancing metabolic rate and signaling satiety, but it also has wide-ranging peripheral effects. Leptin receptors are expressed on vascular smooth muscle cells and have a role in maintaining vascular tone. We investigated the vascular effects of leptin repletion or calorie restriction on leptin-deficient mice (ob/ob) and a leptin antagonist on wild-type (WT) mice. Aortic compliance was assessed by the measurement of pulse wave velocity by noninvasive Doppler; blood pressure was measured by left ventricular catheterization. We found that ob/ob mice have much stiffer aortas than WT mice and that reduction in aortic stiffness was greater in ob/ob mice treated with leptin vs calorie restriction, despite similar weight loss. Interestingly, treating WT mice with a leptin antagonist increases aortic stiffness with no change in weight. Thus, we conclude that leptin is essential for maintaining normal aortic compliance independent of body weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sikka
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benjo
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koitabashi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camara
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baraban
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Barouch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D031204:Caloric Restriction; D003187:Compliance / Q000502:physiology; D020738:Leptin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin