Diabetes, Vol 46, Issue 12 2029-2034, Copyright © 1997 by American Diabetes Association
Leptin sensitivity in nonobese glucagon-like peptide I receptor -/- mice
LA Scrocchi, TJ Brown and DJ Drucker
Department of Medicine, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, The Toronto Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada.
Glucagon-like peptide I (GLP-I) stimulates glucose-dependent insulin
secretion and inhibits food intake in the central nervous system. Because
leptin reduces food intake but inhibits insulin secretion, we examined
leptin action in mice with a null mutation in the GLP-I receptor.
Intracerebroventricular leptin administration inhibited food intake in both
wild-type and GLP-I receptor (GLP-IR) -/- mice, and daily intraperitoneal
administration of leptin for 2 weeks produced comparable reductions in food
intake and body weight in control and GLP-IR -/- mice. Glucose tolerance
was improved in both wild-type and GLP-IR -/- mice, whether pair fed or
leptin treated; however, blood sugars were significantly lower in the
leptin-treated GLP-IR -/- mice following oral glucose challenge (P <
0.01). Glucose-stimulated insulin was reduced in both pair-fed and
leptin-treated mice (P < 0.01-0.001); however, insulin levels were
significantly lower in leptin-treated versus pair-fed GLP-IR -/- mice (P
< 0.01). A single leptin injection had no effect on glucose tolerance in
GLP-IR -/- mice, but decreased hepatic PEPCK mRNA in both wild-type and
GLP-IR -/- mice. The improvement in blood glucose excursion, despite lower
levels of glucose-stimulated insulin in lean leptin-treated GLP-IR -/-
mice, suggests that leptin may have beneficial effects on control of blood
glucose in the absence of obesity. Furthermore, the greater effects of
leptin on glucose and insulin in leptin-treated versus pair-fed GLP-IR -/-
mice raises the possibility that disruption of GLP-I signaling modifies the
sensitivity to leptin in vivo.