title: Suppression of leptin-induced hypothalamic JAK/STAT signalling and feeding response during pregnancy in the mouse.
abstract: Hyperphagia during pregnancy, despite rising concentrations of the satiety hormone leptin, suggests that a state of leptin resistance develops. This study investigated the satiety response and hypothalamic responses to leptin during pregnancy in the mouse. Pregnant (day 13) and nonpregnant mice received an i.p. injection of either leptin or vehicle and then 24-h food intake was measured. Further groups of pregnant and nonpregnant mice were perfused 2 h after leptin or vehicle injections and brains were processed for pSTAT3 and pSTAT5 immunohistochemistry. Leptin treatment significantly decreased food intake in nonpregnant mice. In pregnant mice, however, leptin treatment did not suppress food intake, indicating a state of leptin resistance. In the arcuate nucleus, leptin treatment increased the number of cells positive for pSTAT3, a marker of leptin activity, to a similar degree in both nonpregnant and pregnant mice. In the ventromedial nucleus (VMN), the leptin-induced increase in pSTAT3-positive cell number was significantly reduced in pregnant mice compared to that in nonpregnant mice. In nonpregnant mice, leptin treatment had no effect on the number of pSTAT5-positive cells, suggesting that in this animal model, leptin does not act through STAT5. In pregnant mice, basal levels of pSTAT5 were higher than in nonpregnant mice, and leptin treatment led to a decrease in the number of pSTAT5-positive cells in the hypothalamus. Overall, these results demonstrate that during pregnancy in the mouse, a state of leptin resistance develops, and this is associated with a reduced sensitivity of the VMN to leptin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Centre for Neuroendocrinology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand. sharon.ladyman@anatomy.otago.ac.nz
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ladyman
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fieldwick
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Grattan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001111:Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D020738:Leptin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D050799:STAT5 Transcription Factor / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D012527:Satiation / Q000187:drug effects; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D014697:Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; D050799:STAT5 Transcription Factor; C494087:Stat3 protein, mouse