Leptin contributes to the beneficial effects of insulin treatment in streptozotocin-diabetic male mice.

It was long thought that the only hormone capable of reversing the catabolic consequences of diabetes was insulin. However, various studies have demonstrated that the adipocyte-derived hormone leptin can robustly lower blood glucose levels in rodent models of insulin-deficient diabetes. In addition, it has been suggested that some of the metabolic manifestations of insulin-deficient diabetes are due to hypoleptinemia as opposed to hypoinsulinemia.

Lipid nanoparticle delivery of glucagon receptor siRNA improves glucose homeostasis in mouse models of diabetes.

Objective: Hyperglucagonemia is present in many forms of diabetes and contributes to hyperglycemia, and glucagon suppression can ameliorate diabetes in mice. Leptin, a glucagon suppressor, can also reverse diabetes in rodents. Lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) effectively targets the liver and is in clinical trials for the treatment of various diseases.

The glucoregulatory actions of leptin.

Background: The hormone leptin is an important regulator of metabolic homeostasis, able to inhibit food intake and increase energy expenditure. Leptin can also independently lower blood glucose levels, particularly in hyperglycemic models of leptin or insulin deficiency. Despite significant efforts and relevance to diabetes, the mechanisms by which leptin acts to regulate blood glucose levels are not fully understood.

Glucagon receptor gene deletion in insulin knockout mice modestly reduces blood glucose and ketones but does not promote survival.

Objective: It has been thought that the depletion of insulin is responsible for the catabolic consequences of diabetes; however, evidence suggests that glucagon also plays a role in diabetes pathogenesis. Glucagon suppression by glucagon receptor (Gcgr) gene deletion, glucagon immunoneutralization, or Gcgr antagonist can reverse or prevent type 1 diabetes in rodents suggesting that dysregulated glucagon is also required for development of diabetic symptoms. However, the models used in these studies were rendered diabetic by chemical- or immune-mediated β-cell destruction, in which insulin depletion is incomplete.

Insulin Knockout Mice Have Extended Survival but Volatile Blood Glucose Levels on Leptin Therapy.

Leptin can reverse hyperglycemia in rodent models of type 1 diabetes. However, these models have used chemical or immune mediated β-cell destruction where insulin depletion is incomplete. Thus it is unknown which actions of leptin are entirely insulin independent, versus those which require insulin.

Leptin induces fasting hypoglycaemia in a mouse model of diabetes through the depletion of glycerol.

Aims/hypothesis: Leptin has profound glucose-lowering effects in rodent models of type 1 diabetes, and is currently being tested clinically to treat this disease. In addition to reversing hyperglycaemia, leptin therapy corrects multiple lipid, energy and neuroendocrine imbalances in rodent models of type 1 diabetes, yet the precise mechanism has not been fully defined. Thus, we performed metabolic analyses to delineate the downstream metabolic pathway mediating leptin-induced glucose lowering in diabetic mice.

IGFBP2 is neither sufficient nor necessary for the physiological actions of leptin on glucose homeostasis in male ob/ob mice.

The ability of leptin to improve metabolic abnormalities in models of leptin deficiency, lipodystrophy, and even type 1 diabetes is of significant interest. However, the mechanism by which leptin mediates these effects remains ill-defined. Leptin was recently reported to regulate insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-2 (IGFBP2), and adenoviral overexpression of pharmacological levels of IGFBP2 ameliorates diabetic symptoms in many models of diabetes.

A role for hepatic leptin signaling in lipid metabolism via altered very low density lipoprotein composition and liver lipase activity in mice.

Unlabelled: Obesity is highly associated with dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanism behind this association is not completely understood. The hormone leptin may be a molecular link between obesity and dysregulation of lipid metabolism.

Disruption of hepatic leptin signaling protects mice from age- and diet-related glucose intolerance.

Objective: The liver plays a critical role in integrating and controlling glucose metabolism. Thus, it is important that the liver receive and react to signals from other tissues regarding the nutrient status of the body. Leptin, which is produced and secreted from adipose tissue, is a hormone that relays information regarding the status of adipose depots to other parts of the body.