Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-REGULATORY INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 310, Issue 2, Pages R134-R142Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00174.2015
Keywords
food intake; energy balance; insulin resistance; adeno-associated virus; RNAi
Categories
Funding
- U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases [DK-103710, DK-087888]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) plays an important role in the regulation of energy balance. While DMH NPY overexpression causes hyperphagia and obesity in rats, knockdown of NPY in the DMH via adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated RNAi (AAVshNPY) ameliorates these alterations. Whether this knockdown has a therapeutic effect on obesity and glycemic disorder has yet to be determined. The present study sought to test this potential using a rat model of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and insulin resistance, mimicking human obesity with impaired glucose homeostasis. Rats had ad libitum access to rodent regular chow (RC) or HFD. Six weeks later, an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed for verifying HFD-induced glucose intolerance. After verification, obese rats received bilateral DMH injections of AAVshNPY or the control vector AAVshCTL, and OGTT and insulin tolerance test (ITT) were performed at 16 and 18 wk after viral injection (23 and 25 wk on HFD), respectively. Rats were killed at 26 wk on HFD. We found that AAVshCTL rats on HFD remained hyperphagic, obese, glucose intolerant, and insulin resistant relative to lean control RC-fed rats receiving DMH injection of AAVshCTL, whereas these alterations were reversed in NPY knockdown rats fed a HFD. NPY knockdown rats exhibited normal food intake, body weight, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity, as seen in lean control rats. Together, these results demonstrate a therapeutic action of DMH NPY knockdown against obesity and impaired glucose homeostasis in rats, providing a potential target for the treatment of obesity and diabetes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available