Horm Metab Res 1999; 31(11): 610-615
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-978806
Originals Clinical

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

In Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats Plasma Leptin Levels are Correlated with Plasma Insulin Levels rather than with Body Weight

S. W. J. Janssen1 , 2 , G. J. M. Martens1 , C. G. J. Sweep(Fred)3 , H. A. Ross2 , A. R. M. M. Hermus2
  • 1Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • 2Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Nijmegen Sint Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • 3Department of Chemical Endocrinology, University Hospital Nijmegen Sint Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Publikationsverlauf

1998

1999

Publikationsdatum:
20. April 2007 (online)

The obese (ob) gene product leptin, secreted from adipose tissue, acts in the hypothalamus to regulate body energy stores. In vitro experiments showed that insulin increases both leptin mRNA expression and leptin secretion by adipocytes. Here, we report on the relationship between plasma insulin and plasma leptin in a longitudinal in vivo study. In Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats, an animal model for non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and in ZDF control rats, blood glucose, body weight, plasma insulin and plasma leptin levels were measured from 10 to 25 weeks of age. In ZDF control rats, body weight, plasma leptin and plasma insulin levels increased gradually during the study period. In ZDF rats, the time course of plasma leptin was similar to that of plasma insulin, but did not parallel that of body weight. Calculation of partial correlation coefficients revealed that in ZDF control rats plasma leptin correlated with body weight rather than with plasma insulin. However, in ZDF rats, plasma leptin correlated with plasma insulin rather than with body weight, suggesting an important role for insulin in the modulation of leptin secretion in this animal model for NIDDM.

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