Activation of leptin expression by an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 649 - 651
• Main Authors: WOLKOWICZ, P, GRENETT, H, BELOUSOVA, M, URTHALER, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing 01-04-2004; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biological oxidation (Metabolism); Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase - antagonists & inhibitors; Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase - physiology; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Epididymis - metabolism; Epoxy Compounds - pharmacology; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - pharmacology; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; General and cellular metabolism. Vitamins; Health aspects; Kinases; Leptin; Leptin - blood; Leptin - genetics; Leptin - metabolism; Male; Measurement; Medical sciences; Metabolism; Metabolites; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction - drug effects; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Physiological aspects; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Transferases; United States; United States > US; Acyltransferases; Rat; Enzyme; Transferases; Rodentia; Nutrition disorder; Activation; Gene expression; Carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase; Biological activity; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Leptin; Inhibitor; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802585

Leptin may regulate peripheral fatty acid oxidation and invoke a feedback mechanism that affects leptin expression in adipocytes. The objective of this study, therefore, was to determine whether inhibiting systemic fatty acid oxidation at the level of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) affects leptin expression. To accomplish this objective, fed or overnight fasted rats were treated with 2-tetradecylglycidic acid (TDGA), a specific, irreversible CPT1 inhibitor, and acute changes in rat epididymal leptin expression and serum leptin content were measured using Northern, RT-PCR, and radioimmunoassay analyses. Overnight fasting decreased both epididymal leptin mRNA content and serum leptin. Treating overnight fasted rats with TDGA increased both their epididymal leptin mRNA and their serum leptin significantly in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. TDGA affected neither epididymal leptin mRNA nor serum leptin in fed rats where systemic fatty acid oxidation is low. These results support the conclusion that CPT1-linked fatty acid oxidation is a key modulator of leptin expression in fasting rats.