A putative physiological role of hypothalamic CNTF in the control of energy homeostasis

Vacher, C.-M.; Crépin, D.; Aubourg, A.; Couvreur, O.; Bailleux, V.; Nicolas, V.; Férézou, J.; Gripois, D.; Gertler, A.; Taouis, M.

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2008.10.018

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Volume 582, Issue 27 , Pages 3832-3838, 12 November 2008

A putative physiological role of hypothalamic CNTF in the control of energy homeostasis

Edited by Laszlo Nagy

C.-M. Vacher
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
- Corresponding author. Fax: +33 1 69 15 74 70.
D. Crépin
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
A. Aubourg
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
O. Couvreur
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
V. Bailleux
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
V. Nicolas
- Institut de Signalisation et d’Innovation Thérapeutique, IFR 75, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Paris 11, 92296 Châtenay-Malabry, France
J. Férézou
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
D. Gripois
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France
A. Gertler
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences Institute of Biochemistry Food Science and Nutrition, Rehovot 76100, Israel
M. Taouis
- Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie Moléculaire de la Prise Alimentaire, UMR 1197 INRA, Université Paris 11, Bâtiment 447, 91405 Orsay, France

Received 24 June 2008; received in revised form 26 August 2008; accepted 10 October 2008. published online 22 October 2008.

Abstract

Administration of CNTF durably reduces food intake and body weight in obese humans and rodent models. However, the involvement of endogenous CNTF in the central regulation of energy homeostasis needs to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that CNTF and its receptor are expressed in the arcuate nucleus, a key hypothalamic region controlling food intake, and that CNTF levels are inversely correlated to body weight in rats fed a high-sucrose diet. Thus endogenous CNTF may act, in some individuals, as a protective factor against weight gain during hypercaloric diet and could account for individual differences in the susceptibility to obesity.

Keywords: Food intake, Arcuate nucleus, CNTF, Unbalanced diet, Obesity