Female mice target deleted for the neuromedin B receptor have partial resistance to diet-induced obesity

Previous studies have proposed a role for neuromedin B (NB), a bombesin-like peptide, in the control of body weight homeostasis. However, the nature of this role is unclear. The actions of NB are mediated preferentially by NB-preferring receptors (NBRs). Here we examined the consequences of targeted deletion of NBRs in female mice on body weight homeostasis in mice fed a normolipid diet (ND) or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 13 weeks. Body weight and food ingestion of neuromedin B receptor knockout (NBR-KO) mice fed a normolipid diet showed no difference in relation to wild-type (WT). However, the high-fat diet induced an 8.9- and 4.8-fold increase in body weight of WT and NBR-KO, respectively, compared to their controls maintained with a normolipid diet, even though the mice ingested the same amount of calories, regardless of genotype. Comparing mice fed the high-fat diet, NBR-KO mice accumulated approximately 45% less fat depot mass than WT, exhibited a lower percentage of fat in their carcasses (19.2 vs. 31.3%), and their adipocytes were less hypertrophied. Serum leptin and leptin mRNA in inguinal and perigonadal fat were lower in HFD NBR-KO than HFD WT, and serum adiponectin was similar among HFD groups and unaltered in comparison to ND-fed mice. HFD-fed WT mice developed glucose intolerance but not the HFD-fed NBR-KO mice, although they had similar glycaemia and insulinaemia. NBR-KO and WT mice on the normolipid diet showed no differences in any parameters, except for a trend to lower insulin levels. Therefore, disruption of the neuromedin B receptor pathway did not change body weight homeostasis in female mice fed a normolipid diet; however, it did result in partial resistance to diet-induced obesity.