Abstract
Background:
Obesity is strongly associated with female infertility, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are largely unknown.
Methods:
We investigated the effect of increasing dietary fat percentage upon body mass, hypothalamic neuropeptide gene expression, adipose hormone secretion and fertility in females of the inbred mouse strains C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. To assess the effect of obesity independent of dietary influence, we also compared these parameters in wild-type female C57BL/6J mice to those congenic for the obesogenic mutations ob/ob and Ay/a.
Results:
After 24 weeks, rather than exhibiting an obese, leptin-resistant phenotype like their female DBA/2J counterparts, wild-type female C57BL/6J mice remained lean, fertile and manifested increased hypothalamic LEPR-B expression. Although both mutant genotypes were associated with obesity and subfertility, ob/ob mice demonstrated significantly increased hypothalamic LEPR-B expression, whereas Ay/a mice had a significant reduction. Interestingly, wild-type female C57BL/6J mice were noted to manifest significantly higher and lower levels of adiponectin and tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (tPAI-1), respectively, than weight-matched wild-type female DBA/2J mice.
Conclusions:
We conclude that (1) resistance to the obese-infertile phenotype in female C57BL/6J mice is associated with increased hypothalamic leptin receptor expression and alterations in adipokine levels consistent with decreased adipose tissue inflammation and (2) that long-standing hyperleptinemic obesity in mice is associated with a downregulation of the hypothalamic leptin receptor.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by a Women's Reproductive Health Research Scholarship, NIH 5 K12 HD001275 (DVT).
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Tortoriello, D., McMinn, J. & Chua, S. Increased expression of hypothalamic leptin receptor and adiponectin accompany resistance to dietary-induced obesity and infertility in female C57BL/6J mice. Int J Obes 31, 395–402 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803392
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803392
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