As variantes genéticas LEP G-2548A, LEP 3\'HVR, D1S200 (LEPR),D18S858 (MC4R) e D2S1788 (POMC)foram avaliadas em 100 indivíduos obesos (GE) e 110 não-obesos (GC) brancos. A genotipagem desses indivíduos foi realizada por PCR e RFLP. As freqüências dos alelos LEP -2548G e LEP 3\'HVR-Classe I no grupo GE foram maiores que no GC P<0,05). O haplótipo LEP G/I foi mais freqüente no grupo GE (P=0,018) e nos indivíduos com obesidade central (P=0,047). As freqüências dos alelos 41/42 da D18S858 e do alelo 17 da D1S200 foram maiores (P<0,05) no grupo GE. Os indivíduos com alelos LEP 3\'HVR-Classe I, 41/42 da D18S858 e 17 da D1S200 apresentaram valores mais altos de índice de massa corporal (IMC) e circunferência abdominal (P<0,05). Em conclusão, as variantes LEP G-2548A, LEP 3\'HVR, D18S858 e D1S200 estão associadas com a obesidade e com variações nos valores de IMC e circunferência abdominal em indivíduos brasileiros brancos. / The genetic variants LEP G-2548A, LEP 3\'HVR, D1S200 (LEPR), D18S858 (MC4R) D2S1788 (POMC) were studied in groups of 100 obese (GE) and 110 non-obese (GC) white individuals. Genotyping were carried out by PCR and RFLP techniques. Alleles frequencies from LEP -2548G and Class I alleles from LEP 3\'HVR were higher in GE group, when compared to GC group (P<0,05). The LEP G/I haplotype was more frequent in GE group (P=0,018) and in individuals with central obesity (P=0,047). Alleles 41/42 from D18S858 and allele 17 from D1S200 were more frequent (P<0,05) in GE group. Individuals carrying LEP 3\'HVR-Class I, alleles 41/42 from D18S858 and allele 17 from have shown elevated body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference values (P<0,05). In conclusion, the LEP G-2548A, LEP 3\' HVR, D1S200, and D18S858 genetic variants were found to be associated to obesity and variations in BMI and waist circumference in Brazilian white individuals.

As alterações nutricionais no período neonatal são capazes de comprometer o controle hipotalâmico da ingestão alimentar e o metabolismo do indivíduo em fases posteriores do desenvolvimento. Avaliamos as alterações decorrentes do modelo de programação nutricional neonatal em células gliais hipotalâmicas, devido ao seu importante papel na homeostase energética. Os astrócitos possuem função metabólica ativa, e por sua vez, fornecem substrato energético aos neurônios por meio das conexinas 30 (CX30) e 43 (CX43). A CX30, por sua vez, exerce função, também, na manutenção morfológica astrocitária, contribuindo na inserção astrocitária na fenda sináptica, portanto interferindo na neurotransmissão. A TCPTP (T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase) proteína contra-reguladora da sinalização celular da leptina e a insulina participam nos mecanismos de resistência a esses hormônios e está presente em células da glia e possui ação moduladora na atividade de CX43. Sendo assim, a hipótese do presente trabalho é de que alterações em células da glia no hipotálamo participam nos efeitos da programação nutricional neonatal na modulação do balanço energético na vida juvenil e adulta. Para investigarmos essa hipótese, utilizamos o modelo de programação nutricional neonatal de alteração do tamanho da ninhada, sendo a quantidade de filhotes por lactante formada da seguinte maneira: 3 filhotes, ninhada pequena (SL), 10 filhotes, ninhada normal (NL) e de 16 filhotes, ninhada grande (LL). O peso corporal da ninhada foi verificado semanalmente até o desmame, realizado no 21º dia de vida (PN21). Após o desmame, o peso corporal foi verificado a cada cinco dias até o 60º dia de vida (PN60). A ingestão alimentar individual foi determinada entre o PN50 e PN60. Os animais SL apresentaram maior peso corporal (72,3 ± 2,08g) ao desmame, quando comparados aos grupos NL (57,2 ± 3,5g) e LL (36,3 ± 1,8g) e essa diferença entre os grupos foi mantida até o PN60. Observou-se, porém, que a ingestão alimentar dos animais adultos SL, não foi diferente do grupo NL. Todavia, os animais LL apresentaram um ganho de peso reduzido ao desmame, porém, esses animais alcançaram o ganho de peso corporal dos animais NL (NL: 165 ± 3,97g; LL: 145,4 ± 4,5g), a partir do PN35, fenômeno esse associado ao comportamento hiperfágico. No PN21, observou-se no grupo SL um aumento nas concentrações plasmáticas de leptina (6,4 ? 0,9ng/ml) e insulina (1,9 ? 0,15 ng/ml), quando comparado aos grupos NL (leptina: 3,8 ? 0,3ng/ml; insulina: 1,3 ? 0,2 ng/ml) e LL (leptina: 1,2 ? 0,1ng/ml; 9 insulina: 1,0 ? 0,1ng/ml). No PN60, ambos os grupos SL (leptina: 5,2 ? 1,15ng/ml; insulina: 2,5 ? 0,4ng/ml) e LL (leptina: 4,3 ? 0,5ng/ml; insulina: 3,4 ? 0,5ng/ml) apresentaram aumento nas concentrações plasmáticas de leptina e insulina, comparados ao grupo NL (leptina: 1,8 ? 0,4ng/ml; insulina: 1,2 ? 0,1ng/ml). Quando avaliada a expressão do RNAm de Ptpn2, gene que codifica TCPTP, e a expressão dessa proteína no núcleo arqueado (ARC), observamos um aumento no PN21 no grupo SL e em ambos os grupos no PN60, quando comparados ao grupo NL. O grupo SL apresentou aumento na imunorreatividade para GFAP no PN21 e ambos os grupos apresentaram essa mesma resposta no PN60. O mesmo resultado foi observado na imunorreatividade para a molécula adaptadora ligante de cálcio inonizado-1 (IBA-1) no PN21 e PN60 nos grupos SL e LL. Houve colocalização da TCPTP com GFAP, porém não com IBA-1. A TCPTP possui ação demonstrada na modulação de CX43, ao investigá-la observou-se no PN21, um aumento na expressão do RNAm de Gja1, gene que codifica CX43, assim como na imunorreatividade para CX43 apenas no grupo SL. No PN21 e PN60 observou-se redução da expressão do RNAm de Gja6, gene que codifica CX30, em ambos os grupos SL e LL. Observou-se redução na imunorreatividade de CX30 em ambos os grupos, SL e LL no PN60. No PN21, a expressão do RNAm de Il1b aumentou no ARC em ambos os grupos SL e LL. No entanto, no PN60, apenas o grupo LL apresentou um aumento da expressão do RNAm de Il1b. Adicionalmente, no PN60 ambos os grupos SL e LL apresentaram um aumento na expressão do RNAm de Tnfa no ARC. Na análise morfológica das células da glia, no PN21, observou-se no grupo SL um aumento na imunorreatividade do soma da microglia e do astrócito, assim como, nos processos de extensão de ambas as células. No PN60 ambos os grupos apresentaram um aumento na imunorreatividade do soma e dos processos de extensão astrocitários, no entanto, apenas o grupo SL apresentou um aumento na imunorreatividade do soma microglial. Para analisarmos o efeito da leptina na morfologia dos astrócitos e a participação da TCPTP nesse processo, realizamos a cultura primária de astrócitos hipotalâmicos de ratos neonatos que foram estimulados com leptina [1000ng/ml], [5000ng/ml] e LPS [500ng/ml]. O LPS foi utilizado como controle positivo do protocolo. Observamos que os estímulos com leptina e LPS, aumentaram a expressão do RNAm de Ptpn2, a imunorreatividade para TCPTP e a área astrocitária. O tratamento com LPS foi capaz de promover um aumento na expressão do RNAm de Gja1 e o inverso foi observado na expressão de Gja6. Todavia, tanto o tratamento com leptina e LPS promoveu aumento na imunorreatividade para CX43 e o inverso observou-se na imunorreatividade para CX30. Para avaliarmos a participação da TCPTP nos efeitos da leptina na morfologia dos astrócitos, realizamos o silenciamento de seu gene, utilizando o siRNA Ptpn2. O silenciamento de Ptpn2 foi capaz de reverter os efeitos da leptina tanto na expressão gênica, na imunorreatividade assim como na morfologia astrocitária. O silenciamento de Ptpn2 reverteu também as respostas de redução de CX30 e o aumento de CX43 promovidas pelo LPS pela leptina. De maneira inédita esses dados sugerem a importância da TCPTP na modulação das conexinas nos efeitos da leptina e LPS na morfologia astrocitária hipotalâmica. Observamos que apenas o tratamento com LPS foi capaz de promover um aumento na expressão do RNAm de Ptpn1, e o silenciamento de Ptpn2 intensificou esse aumento da expressão de Ptpn1, demonstrando de forma inédita 10 que a TCPTP exerce ação contra regulatória sobre a PTP1B. Como esperado o estímulo dos astrócitos com LPS aumentou a expressão do RNAm de Il6, Il1b e Tnfa. Interessantemente, o silenciamento de Ptpn2 intensificou esse aumento da expressão do RNAm de Il6, Il1b e Tnfa, demonstrando desse modo que a TCPTP possui ação contra regulatória na secreção dessas citocinas. O conjunto de dados demonstra que a alteração nutricional neonatal é capaz de promover alterações no balanço energético na vida juvenil e adulta. Estas alterações estão associadas a modificações morfológicas das células da glia e ao aumento de citocinas inflamatórias, caracterizando um estado reativo glial. Adicionalmente, demonstramos em cultura primária de astrócitos hipotalâmicos que a leptina altera a morfologia destas células e pela primeira vez demonstramos, também, que a TCPTP modula esses efeitos da leptina, por meio de suas ações na conexina CX30. A CX30 participa na modulação da morfologia dos astrócitos e sua redução está associada ao aumento na área e nos processos de extensão destas células. Em conclusão, o presente estudo demonstra que alterações na disponibilidade nutricional na vida neonatal acarretam alterações no comportamento alimentar e no peso corporal na vida juvenil e adulta em ratos. Demonstramos, também, que tais alterações nutricionais neonatais estão associadas a alterações em células da glia. A leptina induz alterações morfológicas em astrócitos, sendo este efeito mediado pela TCPTP e sua regulação sobre a expressão da proteína CX30. O conjunto dos dados indica a importância das células não neuronais no controle central da homeostase energética em modelo de programação nutricional neonatal. / Nutritional changes in the neonatal period can affect the hypothalamic control of food intake and metabolism in later life. We evaluated the influence of the neonatal nutritional programming on hypothalamic glial cells, known to play an important role in the energy homeostasis. Astrocytes have active metabolic function and provide energy substrate for the neurons through connexin 43 (CX43). CX30 is important in the maintenance of astrocyte morphology, contributing to the insertion of its process into the synaptic cleft. The TCPTP (T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase) is a counterregulator of cellular signaling of leptin and insulin, contributing to the molecular mechanisms of resistance to these hormones and it is expressed in glial and modulates CX43 activity. We hypothesized that alterations in the hypothalamic glial cells participate in the long-lasting effects on energy balance induced by neonatal nutritional programming. For this purpose, we used the model of neonatal nutritional programming induced by changing the litter size, according to the number of offspring per dam: 3 offsprings, small litter (SL), 10 offsprings, normal litter (NL) and 16 offsprings, large litter (LL). The body weight of the litter was determined weekly until weaning on the 21st day of life (PN21). After weaning, body weight was determined every five days until the 60th day of life (PN60). Individual dietary intake was determined between PN50 and PN60. The SL animals presented higher body weight (72.3 ± 2.08g) at weaning, when compared with the NL (57.19 ± 3.49g) and LL (36.27 ± 1.79g) groups and the difference between these groups were maintained until the PN60. However, the food intake of adult SL animals was not different from the NL group. On the other hand, LL animals presented a reduced weight gain at weaning but they had a catch up of reaching the vody weight of NL animals (NL: 165 ± 3.97g; LL: 145.42 ± 4.55g) from PN35 on, and this response was associated with higher food inatke. At PN21, there was an increase in plasma leptin (6.41 ± 0.90 ng/ml) and insulin (1.97 ± 0.11ng/ml) concentrations in the SL group, when compared with the NL group (leptin: 3.79 ± 0,35ng/ml; insulin: 1.32 ± 0.21ng/ml) and LL (leptin: 1.23 ± 0.10ng/ml; insulin: 0.99 ± 0.10 ng/ml). At PN60, both SL (leptin: 5,26 ± 1.15ng/ml, insulin: 2,53 ± 0,36ng/ml) and LL (leptin: 4.30 ± 0.51ng/ml, insulin: 3.39 ± 0.47ng/ml) groups presented increased plasma leptin and insulin concentrations compared with the group NL (leptin: 1.79 ± 0.41ng/ml; insulin: 1.19 ± 0.09ng/ml). The mRNA expression of Ptpn2 mRNA, gene encoding TCPTP, and its protein in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) was increase at PN21 in the SL group and in both groups at PN60, compared with the NL group. The SL group showed an increased immunoreactivity for GFAP at PN21 and 12 both groups showed this increased response at PN60. Similar response was observed for ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (IBA-1) immunoreactivity at PN21 and PN60. There was an overlap of TCPTP with GFAP immunoreactivity, but not with IBA-1. At PN21 there was an increase in the mRNA expression of Gja1, gene coding for CX43, as well as in the immunoreactivity of CX43 in the SL group only. At PN21 and PN60, mRNA expression of the Gja6, gene encoding for CX30, was reduced in both SL and LL groups. However, at PN60 it was reduction of CX30 immunoreactivity in both groups, SL and LL. At PN21, Il1b mRNA expression was increased in the ARC in both SL and LL groups. However, at PN60, only the LL group showed an increased Il1b mRNA expression. Additionally, at PN60 both SL and LL groups showed an increase in the Tnfa mRNA expression in the ARC. In the morphological analysis of glia cells, at PN21, there was an increase in the immunoreactivity of the microglia and astrocyte in the SL group, as well as in the extension processes of both cells. At PN60, both groups showed an increase in the soma immunoreactivity and astrocytic processe extension, however, only the SL group showed an increase in the immunoreactivity of the microglial soma. To analyze the effect of leptin on astrocyte morphology and the participation of TCPTP in this process, we performed the primary culture of hypothalamic astrocytes from neonatal rats that were stimulated with leptin [1000ng/ml], [5000ng/ml] and LPS [500ng /ml]. The LPS was used as a positive control of the protocol. We observed that the leptin and LPS stimuli increased the Ptpn2 mRNA expression, the TCPTP immunoreactivity and the astrocyte area. The LPS treatment increased the Gja1 mRNA expression and the opposite was observed in the Gja6 expression. On the other hand, both treatment with leptin and LPS increased the immunoreactivity for CX43 and the opposite was observed for the CX30 immunoreactivity. In order to evaluate the participation of TCPTP in the effects of leptin on the astrocyte morphology, we performed the silencing of its gene using the siRNA Ptpn2. The silencing of Ptpn2 was able to reverse the effects of leptin and LPS on gene expression, immunoreactivity as well as astrocyte morphology. The silencing of Ptpn2 was able to revert the reduction of CX30 and the increase of CX43 immunoreactivity and the its gene expression promoted by LPS leptin. These data are the first to show the importance of TCPTP in the modulation of connexins on the leptin and LPS effects on the morphology of hypothalamic astrocytes. Additionally, only LPS treatment was able to promote an increase in the Ptpn1 mRNA expression and Ptpn2 silencing enhanced this increase in Ptpn1 mRNA expression.These data demonstrate an unprecedented way that Ptpn2 exerts regulatory action against Ptpn1. As expected, the stimulation with LPS increased the mRNA expression of the Il6, Il1b and Tnfa. The silencing of Ptpn2 amplified this effect of LPS on cytokine gene expression, demonstrating that TCPTP has a counterregulatory action on the secretion of IL6, IL1? and Tnf?. Taken together these data demonstrate that the neonatal nutritional changes are able to promote alterations in the energy balance in the juvenile and adult life. These effects are associated with morphological changes in glial cells and increase of inflammatory cytokines, characterizing a glial reactive state. Additionally, using primary cell culture, we demonstrated that leptin alters the morphology of hypothalamic astrocytes. We also demonstrate for the first time that TCPTP modulates these effects of 13 leptin, through its actions regulating the expression of CX30. The data shown indicate the importance of non-neuronal cells in the central control of energy homeostasis in a model of neonatal nutritional programming.

Infertility is one of the major complications of obesity. Studies have shown that administration of leptin modulated the expression of Β-catenin in the ovary and reversed obesity-induced infertility in rats. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an antioxidant, supplies the energy used for ovulation, oocyte and embryo development and prevents DNA damage that causes infertility. We hypothesized that leptin when combined with CoQ10 could greatly improve fertility. Twenty-one female Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study and divided into five treatments groups. Group I rats was fed rat chow diet (RCD) while groups II to V were fed High-fat diet (HFD) for 14 weeks to induce infertility. Group 1 RCD and group II HFD control rats received 1 ml of saline intraperitoneally (i.p.) twice daily for 2 days, group III HFD rats received 1 ml of 100 µg of leptin i.p. twice daily for 2 days, group IV HFD rats received 10 mg/kg of CoQ10 i.p. for 2 weeks plus saline twice daily for 2 days. Group V HFD rats received 1 ml of 100 µg of leptin i.p. twice daily for 2 days plus 10 mg/kg of CoQ1o i.p. for 2 weeks. Estrous cycle was checked daily and food intake and body weight measured twice weekly before and after treatments. Fourteen days post treatment, all the animals were sacrificed. The blood and tissues were collected for analysis. The results show a significant decrease in food intake and body weight and regular estrous cycle restored in groups III and V rats. There was significant (p < 0.05) increase in spleen weight in groups IV and V. FSH level increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the leptin plus CoQ10 treated group while CoQ10 level was increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the leptin-treated group. Β-catenin expression was decreased in group IV and V, suggesting that Β-catenin expression may be downregulated by COQ10 administration. These results indicate that synergistic action of leptin and CoQ10 could delay the onset of obesity-induced infertility exhibited by the reduction of food intake and body weight. In conclusion, combinations of CoQ10 with leptin can improve fertility in obese infertile female rats and could provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of female infertility.

L'obésité est actuellement considérée, d'une part, comme un facteur de risque de développement du cancer du sein en post-ménopause et, d'autre part, comme un facteur de risque de mortalité faisant suite à cette pathologie. Parmi les différentes hypothèses permettant d'expliquer le lien entre obésité et cancer du sein, il est suggéré que les sécrétions adipocytaires (i.e. les adipokines), dont les taux plasmatiques sont connus pour être modulés en situation d'obésité, jouent un rôle important. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse a donc consisté à évaluer l'impact des sécrétions adipocytaires globales et d'adipokines d'intérêt afin de mieux comprendre l'implication potentielle du microenvironnement tumoral adipocytaire sur les phénomènes de cancérogenèse mammaire. Dans une première partie, afin de resituer l'expression protéique de plusieurs adipokines d'intérêt dans l'ensemble complexe des perturbations engageant la cellule tumorale, nous avons mis en relation l'expression de ces adipokines entre elles et avec celle de biomarqueurs connus du cancer du sein (récepteurs aux œstrogènes et à la progestérone, Bax, Bcl2,Ki67...). Pour cela, nous avons comparé, sur des prélèvements mammaires tumoraux et normaux, l'expression de la leptine, de l'adiponectine et de la zinc-α2-glycoprotéine (ZAG). Les tissus cancéreux ou avoisinant la tumeur expriment la leptine et la ZAG et, plus faiblement l'adiponectine, alors que l'expression de ces adipokines n'est pas retrouvée au niveau du tissu sain de femmes non malades. De plus, l'expression de la ZAG et de la leptine est corrélée positivement à celle des récepteurs aux œstrogènes, suggérant qu'il existe un lien étroit entre les voies adipokinique et œstrogénique. Dans une seconde partie, nous avons évalué in vitro, d'une part, le rôle des sécrétions adipocytaires globales, grâce à la mise en place d'un modèle original de «derme adipeux tridimensionnel» épithélialisé en présence des cellules mammaires, fibrokystiques ou tumorales, et, d'autre part, l'impact d'adipokines d'intérêt (leptine et ZAG) sur différentes lignées de cellules mammaires cancéreuses. Nous avons montré qu'il existe un dialogue réciproque entre le microenvironnement adipeux et les cellules mammaires cancéreuses, favorisant la croissance tumorale. Nous avons également établi que la leptine et la ZAG exercent des effets prolifératifs et anti-apoptotiques. Dans une troisième partie, nous avons cherché à mieux comprendre le fait que l'obésité augmente le risque de mortalité due au cancer du sein, en émettant deux hypothèses complémentaires : i) il pourrait y avoir une moindre efficacité des traitements d'hormonothérapie et/ou de chimiothérapie en cas d'obésité liée à une interférence avec certaines adipokines,et ii) il pourrait exister un risque accru d'apparition de métastases provenant notamment d'une influence des adipokines sur les processus angiogéniques. Ainsi, in vitro, nous avons montré que la leptine diminue l'efficacité de plusieurs traitements anti-cancéreux et augmente les processus angiogéniques et d'invasion tumorale, notamment quand elle est utilisée à des concentrations reflétant une imprégnation plasmatique en situation d'obésité, alors que l'adiponectine inhibe l'angiogenèse pour des concentrations reflétant l'imprégnation plasmatique en situation physiologique. Nos résultats suggèrent que les sécrétions adipocytaires sont impliquées dans la régulation du développement du tissu cancéreux au niveau mammaire et laissent entrevoir des pistes prometteuses concernant le ciblage des adipokines dans la prévention et/ou le traitement de la pathologie cancéreuse mammaire, plus particulièrement en cas de surcharge pondérale. / Obesity is now considered, firstly, as a risk factor for developing breast cancer in postmenopausal women and, secondly, as a risk factor for mortality in response to this pathology. Among the various hypotheses to explain the link between obesity and breast cancer, it is suggested that the adipocyte secretions (ie adipokines), whose plasma levels are known to be modulated in obesity are important. The objective of this work was therefore to assess the overall impact of adipocyte secretions and adipokines of interest to better understand the potential involvement of adipocyte tumor microenvironment in mammary carcinogenesis. In the first part, in order to situate the protein expression of several adipokines of interest in the complex disturbances involving the tumor cell, we have related the expression of these adipokines together and with that of more classical biomarkers of breast cancer (estrogen and progesterone receptor, Bax, Bcl2, Ki67...). For this, we compared, on mammary tumor and normal samples, the expression of leptin, adiponectin and zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG). Cancerous tissue or normal tissue surrounding the tumor express leptin and ZAG and, more weakly, adiponectin, whereas expression of leptin and ZAG is not found in healthy tissue from women without disease. Furthermore, the expression of ZAG and leptin is positively correlated with that of the estrogen receptor, suggesting that there is a close connection between the adipokine and estrogen pathways. In the second part, we evaluated in vitro, on the one hand, the role of overall adipocyte secretions, through the establishment of an original model of "three-dimensional dermis fat" epithelialized in the presence of mammary cells, tumor or fibrocystic, and,on the other hand, the impact of interest adipokines (leptin and ZAG), on different lines of breast cancer cells. We have shown that there is a reciprocal dialogue between the adipose microenvironment and breast cancer cells, promoting tumor growth. Wealso found that leptin and ZAG exert proliferative and anti-apoptotic effects. In the third part, we try to understand the fact that obesity increases the risk of mortality from breast cancer, by issuing two additional assumptions :i) there may be a less effective treatment in situation of obesity related to an interference with some adipokines, and ii) there may be an increased risk of metastasis due to an influence of adipokines on the angiogenic process. Thus, in vitro, we showed that leptin decreases the efficacy of several cancer treatments and increases the angiogenic process and tumor invasion, especially when leptin is used at concentrations reflecting plasma impregnation in a situation of obesity, while adiponectin inhibits angiogenesis, particularly for concentrations reflecting impregnation in plasma in physiological situation. Our results suggest that adipocyte secretions are involved in regulating of breast cancer development and suggest promising ways for targeting adipokines in the prevention and / or treatment of breast cancer pathology, especially in case of overload weight.

Como a incidência de obesidade em crianças têm aumentado e a leptina é um fator permissivo para o início da puberdade, os níveis circulantes de leptina elevados se tornaram um fator comum que pode causar um adiantamento da puberdade. Entretanto, o aumento no acúmulo de gordura nos organismos está associado à resistência ao hormônio leptina. Atualmente existem poucas informações sobre como a sensibilidade a esse hormônio afeta o desenvolvimento sexual. Portanto, este projeto teve como objetivo investigar como diferentes modelos de sensibilidade ou resistência à leptina agem na puberdade de camundongos fêmeas. Técnicas como acompanhamento in vivo das diferentes fases da maturação sexual e da composição corporal, testes de sensibilidade à leptina, testes de tolerância à glucose e à insulina, e PCR em tempo real foram utilizadas. Animais com maior peso corporal desde a infância apresentaram adiantamento da maturação sexual, maior acúmulo de gordura corporal e alterações na expressão de genes metabólicos. Já animais que sofreram inativação do gene Socs3 no sistema nervoso central ou em células que expressam o receptor de leptina, apresentaram um atraso na maturação sexual e alterações na expressão de genes relacionados ao consumo alimentar, porém nos casos de inativação em células Kiss1, os animais não apresentaram nenhum tipo de alteração. Dessa forma, concluímos que o peso corporal é mais importante para o desencadear da maturação sexual do que a sensibilidade do organismo ao hormônio leptina, sugerindo que a leptina atua na maturação sexual de forma indireta sobre o eixo hipotálamo hipófise gonadal. Além disso, na análise da expressão de genes ao longo do desenvolvimento traçamos um perfil de genes associados à reprodução e metabolismo, que servirão de base para comparação para outros estudos. / As the incidence of obesity in children has increased and leptin is a permissive factor for the onset of puberty, elevated circulating leptin levels have become a common factor that may cause puberty to progress. However, the increase in fat accumulation in organisms is associated with resistance to the hormone leptin. There is currently little information on how sensitivity to this hormone affects sexual development. Therefore, this project aimed to investigate how different models of leptin sensitivity or resistance act in the puberty of female mice. Techniques such as in vivo monitoring of the different stages of sexual maturation and body composition, leptin sensitivity tests, glucose and insulin tolerance tests, and real-time PCR were used. Animals with higher body weight since childhood presented an advance of sexual maturation, greater accumulation of body fat and alterations in the expression of metabolic genes. On the other hand, animals that underwent inactivation of the Socs3 gene in the central nervous system or cells expressing the leptin receptor showed a delay in sexual maturation and alterations in the expression of genes related to food consumption, but in cases of inactivation in Kiss1 cells, animals did not present any type of change. Thus, we conclude that body weight is more important for the onset of sexual maturation than the body\'s sensitivity to the hormone leptin, suggesting that leptin acts indirectly on sexual maturation on the hypothalamus - pituitary - gonadal axis. In addition, in the analysis of gene expression along the development we have traced a profile of genes associated with reproduction and metabolism, which will serve as a basis for comparison to other studies.

Humanos e camundongos deficientes tanto na produção da leptina quanto na expressão do seu receptor (LepR) são obesos, hiperfágicos e inférteis; o tratamento com reposição de leptina em indivíduos deficientes na produção desse hormônio garante que haja redução no peso corporal, seja retomada ciclicidade estral e a fertilidade. Ainda, o tratamento com leptina em fêmeas prépúberes normais acelera o início da puberdade, sugerindo que esse hormônio tem papel crucial no tempo de início da puberdade. Ao relacionarmos leptina e puberdade, uma informação interessante é que, neurônios que secretam hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas (GnRH), localizados na área pré-óptica medial (MPO) não coexpressam o LepR. Além disso, embora poucos neurônios que expressam o RNAm que codifica o gene Kiss1 do núcleo arqueado sejam responsivos à leptina, a sinalização da leptina nesses neurônios só ocorre após a puberdade e, a inativação do LepR nesses neurônios não afeta a reprodução. Por esses motivos, acredita-se que a leptina atue de forma indireta no controle da reprodução. Além dos núcleos MPO e ARH, o núcleo pré-mamilar ventral (PMv), que apresenta uma parcela de neurônios que expressam o LepR, também está envolvido na regulação neuroendócrina da reprodução. Estudos anteriores demonstraram que alterações nos níveis circulantes de estrógeno alteram características biofísicas e morfológicas de neurônios que expressam o gene Kiss1. Embora a leptina seja fundamental na maturação sexual não sabemos se os neurônios que expressam o LepR são suscetíveis a essas alterações durante a maturação sexual. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar se neurônios LepR presentes nos núcleos MPO, ARH e PMv sofrem alterações morfológicas durante a maturação sexual e mediante ausência de hormônios gonadais. Foram utilizados camundongos (fêmeas) LepR-Cre tdTomato, divididas em 4 grupos experimentais: pré-púberes, púberes, adultas e ovarectomizadas (OVX). A maturação sexual foi avaliada, para determinação do dia da abertura vaginal e primeiro estro. Nas idades específicas os encéfalos foram processados e coletados para posterior quantificação e aferição da área de superfície de neurônios LepR. Realizamos, também, imunoistoquímica de fluorescência para pSTAT3 para quantificar o percentual de neurônios responsivos à leptina. Os resultados obtidos demostraram que ocorreu um aumento no número de neurônios LepR no núcleo ARH com o avanço da idade. Porém, não houveram diferenças significativas quanto ao número de neurônios nos núcleos MPO e PMv. Também não observamos alterações na área de superfície nos núcleos analisados. Em relação a ativação de neurônios LepR via marcação de pSTAT3, o núcleo MPO apresentou uma diminuição no percentual de neurônios ativos quando comparamos os grupos pré-púberes com os grupos adulta e OVX. O oposto aconteceu no núcleo ARH onde obtivemos um aumento desse percentual com o avanço da idade. Em ambos os núcleos (MPO e ARH) o percentual de neurônios LepR ativados no grupo OVX foi estatisticamente semelhante ao grupo adulta, diferindo somente do grupo pré-púbere. O núcleo PMv não apresentou diferenças estatísticas entre os grupos analisados. Nossos dados sugerem que estrógeno e leptina podem interagir de formas distintas em diferentes regiões hipotalâmicas. / Leptin or leptin receptor (LepR) deficient humans and mice are obese, hyperphagic and infertile; leptin replacement in leptin deficient subjects is capable of reducing body mass and restores estrous cyclicity and fertility. In addition, leptin accelerates the onset of puberty in normal female mice, suggesting that this hormone plays a critical role in the timing of puberty. Interestingly, the gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons, located at the medial pre-optic área (MPO) does not coexpress the LepR. Although few kisspeptin neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARH; 15%) are responsive to leptin, leptin signaling in kisspeptin neurons arises only after pubertal development and leptin receptor inactivation in kisspeptin cells did not affect reproduction. Therefore, the effects of leptin on reproduction is believed to occur indirectly. In addition to ARH and MPO, the ventral premammillary nucleus (PMv) is also involved in the neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction and a fraction of PMv neurons coexpress LepR. Curiously, previous studies have shown that changing levels of estrogen alters the biophysical properties and morphology of hypothalamic neurons, such as expressing the ones expressing the Kiss1 gene. Although leptin has an important role on the puberty onset, it is not known whether LepR-expressing neurons are also susceptible to changes in their morphology during sexual maturation. Therefore, our goal was to investigate whether LepR-expressing neurons in the MPO, ARH and PMv nuclei are susceptible to cell morphology modifications throughout the sexual maturation and after manipulation of estrogen levels. LepR-Cre tdTomato mice (females) were divided into 4 experimental groups: prepubertal, pubertal, adult and ovarectomized (OVX). The sexual maturation was evaluated to determine the day of vaginal opening and first estrus. At specific ages the brains were processed and collected for further quantification and measurement of the surface area of LepR neurons. We also performed fluorescence immunohistochemistry for pSTAT3 to quantify the percentage of neurons responsive to leptin. The results showed that there is an increase in the number of LepR neurons in the ARH nucleus with advancing age. However, there were no significant differences in the number of neurons in the MPO and PMv nuclei. We also did not observe changes in the surface area in the nuclei analyzed. In relation to the activation of LepR neurons via pSTAT3 labeling, the MPO nucleus showed a decrease in the percentage of active neurons when comparing the prepubertal groups with the adult and OVX groups. The opposite happened in the ARH nucleus where we had an increase of this percentage with the advancement of the age. In both nuclei (MPO and ARH) the percentage of LepR neurons activated the OVX group was statistically similar to the adult group, differing only from the pre-pubertal group. The PMv nucleus did not present statistical differences between the analyzed groups. Our data suggest that estrogen and leptin may interact differently in different hypothalamic regions.

Bakgrund: Fetma har kommit att bli ett globalt problem, som ökar risken för såväl kardiovaskulära sjukdomar som cancer. Dessutom sover vi mindre idag, vilket korrelerar med fetma och ökad sjukdomsrisk. En normal aptitreglering följer vanligtvis en cirkadiansk rytm, likaså ett mönster efter en individs födointag. För lite sömn kan störa denna normala reglering, vilket i sin tur kan leda till ökad aptit och efterföljande ökat födointag. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka befintlig forskning för att finna samband mellan sömnbrist och påverkan på den hormonella aptitregleringen hos vuxna människor, med fokus på de aptitreglerande hormonerna leptin och ghrelin. Metod: Studien var en systematisk litteraturstudie med metaanalys, där forskning söktes efter och granskades i databasen PubMed. Inklusions- och exklusionskriterier användes för att avgränsa studierna till de mest relevanta. Därefter applicerades datan i OpenMeta[Analyst] för att genomföra en metaanalys. Resultat: Sju studier inkluderades i litteraturstudien. Tre studier rapporterade en signifikant höjning av ghrelin vid sömnbrist, vilket inte gick att påvisa i en metaanalys. En studie rapporterade en signifikant höjning av leptin vid sömnbrist. Slutsats: Det gick inte att påvisa en signifikant skillnad i hormonnivåerna ghrelin eller leptin vid sömnbrist jämfört med normal sömn. Vidare studier är nödvändiga för att undersöka detta samband.

Abstract Nutritional status affects every aspect of a child?s health. Thorough nutritional assessment is hampered by the lack of a single comprehensive tool, which can cover all aspects of nutritional assessment. In three distinct studies, this thesis investigated the nutritional status of hospitalised children, children with coeliac disease and children with inflammatory bowel disease. Study 1 The objectives of this study were to assess prevalence of malnutrition and nutritional risk, and define demographic and anthropometric factors associated with nutritional risk among hospitalized children. In this cross sectional study, 157 hospitalised children were assessed for nutritional status using nutritional risk score (NRS) and anthropometric measurements. We found that 4.5%, 8.9%, 15.1% and 10.4% children were wasted, stunted, overweight and obese respectively. However, with the NRS, 47.8% of the children were at high nutritional risk. These children at high risk had lower weight for age (p=0.02), lower BMI percentiles for age (p=0.001) and longer hospitalization (p=0.001) than children at no risk. Study 2 The objectives of this study were to determine nutritional parameters in children with coeliac disease. Twenty-five children with coeliac disease and an equal number of age and gender matched controls were enrolled and anthropometric measurements, BIA and leptin levels were analysed in all. No significant differences were found between the children with coeliac disease and controls in these parameters. BMI percentile correlated with leptin levels in children with coeliac disease. Study 3 The objectives of this study were to determine anthropometric parameters and leptin levels in children with IBD and ascertain if BMI correlates with leptin levels in these children. Thirty children with IBD and 60 age and gender matched controls were enrolled. Anthropometric measurements and leptin levels were analysed and compared with controls. IBD children had significantly low weight for age (p=0.002), BMI percentiles (p=0.001) and leptin levels (p=0.009) compared to controls. There was a correlation between BMI and leptin levels in IBD children. In conclusion, this thesis has shown that one quarter of hospitalized children were overweight or obese, and further, that half of the hospitalised children were at high risk of nutritional deterioration and these children had longer hospital stay than children at no risk. Children with coeliac disease had similar anthropometric measurements, body compartments and leptin levels to controls. However, children with IBD had lower anthropometric measurements and leptin levels, indicating under-nutrition. Nutritional assessment should be a mandatory part of clinical management with nutritional status assessed by various tools including NRS, anthropometry, BIA and leptin levels.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Physiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Studies described in this thesis were performed to investigate associations among season, diet, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) and blood concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), insulin, glucose, and leptin in horses. In the first study, higher ACTH concentrations were detected in horses affected with PPID. A seasonal increase in plasma ACTH concentration was detected in the late summer and early fall, but PPID did not affect the timing or duration of this increase. Pasture grazing raised glucose and insulin concentrations with a peak in September, at the same time that horses had higher ACTH concentrations, and this convergence of risk factors may raise the risk of laminitis. All of the horses included in this study were from the same farm. The second study was performed to determine whether horses from different locations within the same region exhibited the same seasonal increase in ACTH concentrations. Results of this study indicate that the seasonal increase in plasma ACTH concentrations occurs in horses from different farms with varying management practices. The third study investigated the effects of season on plasma leptin concentrations in the horses from the first study. We hypothesized that higher leptin concentrations would be detected in advance of the seasonal increase in plasma ACTH concentrations. Results did not support our hypothesis because leptin concentrations increased after ACTH concentrations peaked in September. Our findings suggest that the seasonal increase in ACTH concentrations induced leptin resistance, which might facilitate weight gain in the autumn. Alternatively, leptin concentrations increased as a result of weight gain or change in body fat composition. In summary, season appears to signal upregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in horses, in an effort to prepare for winter. This upregulation is retained in horses with PPID, a disorder associated with loss of dopaminergic inhibition to the pars intermedia of the pituitary. The seasonal rise in plasma ACTH concentrations is followed by an increase in leptin concentrations, which suggests the development of leptin resistance or an increase in adiposity.