Fibroblast Growth Factor 21-Null Mice Do Not Exhibit an Impaired Response to Fasting.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a pleotropic metabolic regulator, expression of which is elevated during fasting. To this end, the precise role played by FGF21 in the biology of fasting has been the subject of several recent studies, which have demonstrated contributions to the regulation of both lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. In the present study, we compared wild-type (WT) and FGF21-null (FGF21KO) mice, demonstrating that, despite the significant induction of FGF21 during fasting in the WT animals, our strain of FGF21-null mice exhibits only limited impairments in their adaptation to nutrient deprivation.