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The stomach is a source of leptin

Abstract

The circulating peptide leptin, which is the product of the ob gene1, provides feedback information on the size of fat stores to central Ob receptors2,3 that control food intake and body-weight homeostasis4,5,6. Leptin has so far been reported to be secreted only by adipocytes1 and the placenta7. Here we show that leptin messenger RNA and leptin protein are present in rat gastric epithelium, and that cells in the glands of the gastric fundic mucosa are immunoreactive for leptin. The physiological function of this previously unsuspected source of leptin is unknown. However, both feeding and administration of CCK-8 (the biologically active carboxy-terminal end of cholecystokinin) result in a rapid and large decrease in both leptin cell immunoreactivity and the leptin content of the fundic epithelium, with a concomitant increase in the concentration of leptin in the plasma. These results indicate that gastric leptin may be involved in early CCK-mediated effects activated by food intake, possibly including satiety.

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Figure 1: Leptin expression in Wistar rats.
Figure 2: Immunostaining of leptin in rat fundic mucosa.
Figure 3: Effects of CCK-8 on immunostaining of leptin in rat fundic mucosa.
Figure 4: Effects of CCK-8 or feeding on plasma leptin and on fundic content.
Figure 5: Kinetics of vascular leptin release from the isolated perfused rat stomach.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by INSERM and by the Ministère de l'Education et de la Recherche Scientifique (A.B.). L.S. was supported by MERST, K.S. by a grant from IRMAD, A.S. by a grant from FRM, and M.N.B. by a grant from Novo-Nordisk.

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Correspondence to Miguel. J. M. Lewin.

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Bado, A., Levasseur, S., Attoub, S. et al. The stomach is a source of leptin. Nature 394, 790–793 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/29547

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