Role of perinatal leptin in metabolic programming and susceptibility to the development of obesity

摘要

This paper summarizes new available information about the role of leptin, an hormone essentially produced by adipose tissue, on the establishment of food intake regulation during fetal development and perinatal life. Particularly, it has been shown that leptin exerts a neurotrophic action leading to the establishment of the hypothalamic neuronal network responsible of food intake behaviour. Leptin blockage, by using specific antagonist in newborn rats, induces a long-term deregulation of food intake and energy expenditure leading to a higher susceptibility to obesity. Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) associated with low birth weight is known to predispose to metabolic syndrome and obesity in later life. By using piglets as animal model, it has been shown that IUGR newborn animals presented an immature hypothalamic organization in terms of localization of leptin receptor expression. Leptin administration during early life (10 days) stimulated the growth and accelerated the maturation of the organs implicated in metabolic regulation.