ADIPOCYTE APOPTOSIS AND MECHANISM OF THE LEPTIN-DEPENDENT REGULATION IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY

V.N. Zalessky, N.V. Velikaja.

Leptin, a hormone produced in adipocytes, plays a vital role in the regulation of body energy content. Suppression of food intake is an important centrally mediated effect of leptin; however leptin also functions both centrally and peripherally via the mechanisms of energy expenditure controls. Recent evidence indicates that leptin actions via by triggering an apoptotic process that results in adipocyte deletion. Adipose tissue from rats given cerebral ventricular injections of leptin demonstrated characteristic features of apoptosis, including internucleosomal fragmentation of genomic DNA, elevated level of DNA strand breaks and reduction in total DNA content and cellular volume. These findings demonstrate that leptin acts via the central nervous system to regulate body energy content, not only by controlling food intake and energy expenditure, but also by regulated the number of adipose cells and optimization of the pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical control methods in obesity.

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