Regulation of corticotropin-releasing factor and its types 1 and 2 receptors by leptin in rats subjected to treadmill running-induced stress

The present study was conducted to investigate the long-term effects of subchronic elevation of central leptin levels on the expression of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and its types I and 2 receptors in the brain of rats subjected to treadmill running-induced stress. PBS or recombinant murine leptin was infused continuously for a period of 5 days into the third ventricle of rats with the aid of osmotic minipumps at a delivery rate of 2 mu g/day. On the fifth day of infusion, rats were killed under resting conditions or after a session of treadmill running, which is known to induce a stress response in rats. Leptin treatment significantly decreased food intake, body weight, white adipose tissue weight, glucose and insulin plasma contents, and blunted the treadmill running induced elevation in plasma levels of corticosterone. Leptin infusion prevented stress-induced de novo synthesis of CRF in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN), which was measured using the intronic probe for CRF heteronuclear RNA. The induction of the type I CRF receptor (CRF1R) in the PVN and supraoptic nucleus in running rats was also significantly blunted by leptin. In contrast, leptin treatment strongly increased the expression of type 2 CRF receptor (CRF2R) in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH). The present results suggest that subchronic elevation of central levels of leptin blunts treadmill running-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis through the inhibition of activation of the CRFergic PVN neurons, and potentially enhances the anorectic CRF effects via the stimulation of expression of CRF2R in the VMH.