Serum and gene expression levels of leptin and adiponectin in rats susceptible or resistant to diet-induced obesity

The aim of the present study was to identify the role of leptin and adiponectin in the development of resistance or susceptibility to diet-induced obesity in rats. For this purpose, male Wistar rats were fed with standard laboratory diet (control group) or cafeteria diet. After 15 days, two groups of rats with different response respect to the cafeteria diet were identified, and were assigned as diet-induced obesity (DIO) and diet resistant (DR) rats. The high-fat diet induced a very significant increase in both body and fat mass weight in DIO group. However, DR rats, gained even less weight than control-fed animals. Food intake was increased in cafeteria-fed rats (both DIO and DR) in comparison to control group; but hyperphagia was higher in DIO rats. In addition, feed efficiency (the ratio of weight gained to calories consumed) was significantly decreased in DR as compared to DIO rats. Regarding leptin, a significant increase in both adipose tissue gene expression and serum levels was observed in DIO rats in comparison with other groups (control and DR). A significant increase in both adiponectin circulating levels and adipose tissue mRNA expression was also observed in DIO animals as compared with the other groups. These data suggest that the susceptibility to obesity of DIO rats might be secondary, at least in part, to an earlier development of leptin resistance, which could lead to alterations in food intake (hyperphagia) and energetic metabolism. However, neither changes in leptin or adiponectin seem to be involved in the adaptive mechanisms that confer resistance to high fat intake.     

Central leptin gene therapy fails to overcome leptin resistance associated with diet-induced obesity

The objective of this study was to determine if central overexpression of leptin could overcome the leptin resistance caused by 100 days of high-fat feeding. Three-month old-F344XBN male rats were fed either control low fat chow (Chow), which provides 15% of energy as fat, or a high-fat/high-sucrose diet (HF), which provides 59% of energy as fat. Over several weeks, the HF-fed animals spontaneously split into two groups of animals: those that became obese on the HF diet (DIO) and those that did not gain extra weight on the HF diet [diet resistant (DR)]. After 100 days of HF feeding, animals were given a single intracerebroventricular injection containing 5.75E10 particles of rAAV encoding leptin (rAAV-leptin) or control virus (rAAV-con). Chow animals responded robustly to rAAV-leptin, including significant anorexia, weight loss, and lipopenia. In contrast, DIO were completely unresponsive to rAAV-leptin. DR rats responded to rAAV-leptin, but in a more variable fashion than Chow. Unlike what was observed in Chow, the anorectic response to rAAV-leptin rapidly attenuated and was no longer significant by day 14 postvector delivery. Both DIO and DR animals were found to have reduced long-form leptin receptor expression and enhanced basal P-STAT-3 in the hypothalamus with respect to Chow. rAAV-leptin caused an increase in STAT3 phosphorylation and proopiomelanocortin expression in the hypothalamus and an increase in uncoupling protein-1 in brown adipose tissue in both Chow and DR animals, but failed to do so in DIO. This suggests that central overexpression of leptin is not a viable strategy to reverse diet-induced obesity.     

Slower gastric emptying in high-fat diet induced obese rats is associated with attenuated plasma ghrelin and elevated plasma leptin and cholecystokinin concentrations

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility and gut hormones have been considered to be involved in the development and maintenance of obesity. Our aim was to assess the relationships between gastric emptying (GE), GI transit and gut hormones and leptin concentrations in diet-induced obese rat model. Male 6-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with a high-fat (HF) diet for 8weeks to generate diet-induced obesity (DIO) and diet resistant (DR) rats. GE, GI transit and plasma ghrelin, cholecystokinin (CCK), PYY and leptin concentrations were determined in DIO, DR and control (CON) rats. The DIO rats had slower GE, higher plasma leptin and CCK concentrations, and lower plasma ghrelin concentration compared with CON and DR rats. GE was correlated with plasma ghrelin (r=0.402, P=0.028), CCK (r=-0.518, P=0.003) and leptin concentration (r=-0.514, P=0.004). The slower GE, which can be considered as an adaptive response aimed at HF diet induced obesity, may be mediated by changes of plasma ghrelin, CCK and leptin concentrations.     

Reduced anorexic effects of insulin in obesity-prone rats fed a moderate-fat diet

Rats prone to develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) have reduced central sensitivity to many metabolic and hormonal signals involved in energy homeostasis. High-fat diets produce similar defects in diet-resistant (DR) rats. To test the hypothesis that genotype and diet exposure would similarly affect central insulin signaling, we assessed the anorectic effects of 8 mU third ventricular (iv3t) insulin before and after 4 wk intake of a 31% fat, high-energy (HE) diet intake in outbred (OutB) rats. Rats were retrospectively designated as DR or DIO by their low or high weight gains on HE diet. Before the HE diet, iv3t insulin reduced 4-h and 24-h chow intake by 53% and 69% in DR rats but by only 17% and 27% in DIO rats, respectively. Also, the anorectic response to iv3t insulin in OutB rats was inversely correlated (r = 0.72, P = 0.002) with subsequent 4-wk weight gain on the HE diet. Similarly, in selectively bred (SB) chow-fed DR rats, 8 mU iv3t insulin reduced 4-h and 24-h intake by 21% and 22%, respectively, but had no significant effect in SB DIO rats. Four-week HE diet intake reduced 4-h and 24-h insulin-induced anorexia by 45% in OutB DR rats and completely abolished it in SB DR rats. Reduced insulin responsiveness was unassociated with differences in arcuate nucleus insulin receptor mRNA expression between DIO and DR rats or between rats fed chow or HE diet. These data suggest that DIO rats have a preexisting reduction in central insulin signaling, which might contribute to their becoming obese on the HE diet. However, since the HE diet reduced central insulin sensitivity in DR rats but did not make them obese, it is likely that other brain areas are involved in insulin's anorectic action or that other pathways contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity.     

Role of adipogenic and thermogenic genes in susceptibility or resistance to develop diet-induced obesity in rats

The aim of the present work was to assess whether changes in adipose tissue gene expression related with adipogenesis and/or thermogenesis could be involved in the mechanism conferring susceptibility or resistance to develop obesity in high-fat fed outbreed rats. For this purpose, male Wistar rats were fed with standard laboratory diet (control group) or high fat diet. After 15 days, two groups of rats with significant differences on body weight gain in response to the high fat diet were characterized and identified as diet-induced obesity (DIO) and diet resistant (DR) rats. A significant increase in visceral white adipose tissue (WAT) PPARgamma and aP2 (p < 0.05) mRNA levels associated to a decrease in RARgamma expression (p < 0.05) was observed in DIO rats, suggesting an increase of adipogenesis. Furthermore, our data showed a marked increase in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of UCP1 mRNA in DIO animals (p < 0.01) (without affecting PGC-1alpha gene expression), whereas no changes were found in WAT UCP2 gene expression. All these data suggest that the variations found in the expression pattern of PPARgamma, aP2 and RARgamma by high-fat diet could be involved, at least in part, in the differences in body weight gain and adiposity observed between DR and DIO animals. The compensatory adaptations through the increase in energy expenditure by changes on the expression levels of UCP1 seem not to be enough to avoid the obesity onset in the DIO group.     

Defense of body weight against chronic caloric restriction in obesity-prone and -resistant rats

Half of Sprague-Dawley rats develop and defend diet-induced obesity (DIO) or diet resistance (DR) when fed a high-energy (HE) diet. Here, adult male rats were made DIO or DR after 10 wk on HE diet. Then half of each group was food restricted for 8 wk on chow to maintain their body weights at 90% of their respective baselines. Rate and magnitude of weight loss were comparable, but maintenance energy intake and the degree of sympathetic activity (24-h urine norepinephrine) inhibition were 17 and 29% lower, respectively, in restricted DR than DIO rats. Restricted DIO rats reduced adipose depot weights, plasma leptin, and insulin levels by 35%. Restricted DR rats reduced none of these. When fed ad libitum, both DR and DIO rats returned to the body weights of their respective chow-fed phenotype controls within 2 wk. This was associated with increased adipose mass and leptin and insulin levels only in DIO rats. Thus DR rats appear to alter primarily their lean body mass, whereas DIO rats primarily alter their adipose mass during chronic caloric restriction and refeeding.     

Central orexin sensitivity, physical activity, and obesity in diet-induced obese and diet-resistant rats

Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), the most variable component of energy expenditure, can account for differential capacities for human weight gain. Also highly variable, spontaneous physical activity (SPA) may similarly affect weight balance in animals. In the following study, we utilized the rat model of obesity, the diet-induced obese (DIO) rat, as well as the diet-resistant (DR) rat strain, to investigate how access to a high-fat diet alters SPA and the associated energy expenditure (i.e., NEAT). DIO and DR rats showed no differences in the amount of SPA before access to the high-fat diet. After 29 days on a high-fat diet, the DIO rats showed significant decreases in SPA, whereas the DR rats did not. Next, we wanted to determine whether the DIO and DR rats showed differential sensitivity to microinjections of orexin into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Unilateral guide cannulae were implanted, aimed at the PVN. Orexin A (0, 0.125, 0.25, and 1.0 nmol in 500 nl) was microinjected through the guide cannula into the PVN, then SPA and energy expenditure were measured for 2 h. Using the response to vehicle as a baseline, the DR rats showed significantly greater increase in NEAT compared with the DIO rats. These data indicate that diet-induced obesity is associated with decreases in SPA and a lack of increase in NEAT. A putative mechanism for changes in NEAT that accompany obesity is a decreased sensitivity to the NEAT-activating effects of neuropeptides such as orexin.     

Stress facilitates body weight gain in genetically predisposed rats on medium-fat diet

To assess the interaction between stress and energy homeostasis, we immobilized male Sprague-Dawley rats prone to diet-induced obesity (DIO) or diet resistance (DR) once for 20 min and then fed them either low-fat (4.5%) chow or a medium-fat (31%), high-energy (HE) diet for 9 days. Stressed, chow-fed DIO rats gained less, while stressed DIO rats on HE diet gained more body weight and had higher feed efficiency and plasma leptin levels than unstressed controls. Neither stress nor diet affected DR body weight gain. While stress-induced plasma corticosterone levels did not differ between phenotypes, DIO rats were initially more active in an open field and had higher hippocampal dentate gyrus and CA1 glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA than DR rats, regardless of prior stress or diet. HE diet intake was associated with raised dentate gyrus and CA1 GR and amygdalar central nucleus (CeA) corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression, while stress was associated with reduced hypothalamic dorsomedial nucleus Ob-R mRNA and CeA CRH specifically in DIO rats fed HE diet. Thus a single stress triggers a complex interaction among weight gain phenotype, diet, and stress responsivity, which determines the body weight and adiposity of a given individual.     

Ventromedial Hypothalamic NPY Y2 Receptor in the Maintenance of Body Weight in Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice

This study examined changes in neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y2 receptor binding in the brains of C57BL/6 mice in response to different levels of high-fat diets via three dietary intervention methods: high-fat diet, switching from high- to low-fat diet and finally, energy restricted high-fat diet. Forty-five C57Bl/6 male mice were fed a high-fat diet for 8 weeks and then classified as diet-induced obese (DIO) or diet-resistant (DR) mice according to the highest and lowest body weight gainers, respectively. The DIO and DR mice were then randomly divided into three groups each and either continued on their high-fat diet ad libitum (DIO-H and DR-H), changed to a low-fat diet (DIO-L and DR-L) or pair-fed via energy restricted high-fat diet (DIO-P and DR-P) for a further 6 weeks. During the course of this study, body weight, energy intake and plasma peptide YY (PYY) were measured. The study revealed that the replacement of a high-fat diet with a low-fat diet was associated with a significant lowering of ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) Y2 receptor binding in both the DIO-L and DR-L mice (−37%, −36%), and also a lowered plasma PYY level in the DIO-L mice (−25%). Despite a continued consumption of the high-fat diet, energy restricted pair feeding caused a lower VMH Y2 receptor binding in the obese mice (DIO-P) following weight loss compared to the DR-P mice (−14%). In conclusion, this study showed that changing diets from high- to low-fat can significantly lower the VMH Y2 receptor binding irrespective to the obesity phenotype. Energy restriction, even while on high-fat feeding, can cause a lower VMH Y2 receptor binding compared to DR mice even after body weight loss to similar levels. This suggests either a possible intrinsic nature of the DIO mice or a body weight set-point re-establishment to drive body weight regain.     

Characterization of β‐Cell Mass and Insulin Resistance in Diet‐induced Obese and Diet‐resistant Rats

The selectively bred diet‐induced obese (DIO) and diet‐resistant (DR) rats represent a polygenetic animal model mimicking most clinical variables characterizing the human metabolic syndrome. When fed a high‐energy (HE) diet DIO rats develop visceral obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance but never frank diabetes. To improve our understanding of the underlying cause for the deteriorating glucose and insulin parameters, we have investigated possible adaptive responses in DIO and DR rats at the level of the insulin‐producing β‐cells. At the time of weaning, DR rats were found to have a higher body weight and β‐cell mass compared to DIO rats, and elevated insulin and glucose responses to an oral glucose load. However, at 2.5 months of age, and for the remaining study period, the effect of genotype became evident: the chow‐fed DIO rats steadily increased their body weight and β‐cell mass, as well as insulin and glucose levels compared to the DR rats. HE feeding affected both DIO and DR rats leading to an increased body weight and an increased β‐cell mass. Interestingly, although the β‐cell mass in DR rats and chow‐fed DIO rats appeared to constantly increase with age, the β‐cell mass in the HE‐fed DIO rats did not continue to do so. This might constitute part of an explanation for their reduced glucose tolerance. Collectively, the data support the use of HE‐fed DIO rats as a model of human obesity and insulin resistance, and accentuate its relevance for studies examining the benefit of pharmaceutical compounds targeting this disease complex.     

Change in CCK-8 response after diet-induced obesity and MC3/4-receptor blockade

Little is known regarding satiety effects of systemically administered cholecystokinin (CCK-8) in propensity or resistance to dietary-induced obesity (DIO), and of its effect under conditions of melanocortin-3/4R blockade. We found that CCK-8 exerted greater satiety effects in DIO-prone but not DIO-resistant rats, and this occurred only when the rats were placed on a high-fat (HF) diet, when DIO-prone rats failed to compensate for the greater energy density of the diet. CCK-8 also suppressed intake stimulated by melanocortin-3/4R antagonist, SHU9119, but only after 24h of increased feeding. This suggests that under both of these conditions, responsiveness to CCK's satiety effect is not so much affected by a HF diet or significant increases in body weight per se, but by a failure to rapidly limit food intake to that needed only for metabolic need. Identification of an early feeding mediator that is most strongly activated by a HF diet or by an acute challenge to energy homeostasis should provide an ideal anti-obesity target adjunct to CCK-8.     

Ontogeny of diet-induced obesity in selectively bred Sprague-Dawley rats

Outbred Sprague-Dawley rats selectively bred for their propensity to develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) become heavier on low-fat diet than those bred to be diet resistant (DR) beginning at approximately 5 wk of age. Here we assessed the development of metabolic and neural functions for insights into the origins of their greater weight gain. From week 5 to week 10, chow-fed DIO rats gained 15% more body weight and ate approximately 14% more calories but had only slightly greater adiposity and plasma leptin than DR rats. From day 3 through week 10, DIO and DR rats had similar mRNA expression of arcuate nucleus neuropeptide Y, proopiomelanocortin, agouti-related peptide, and all splice variants of the leptin receptor (OB-R). When fed a high-energy (HE; 31% fat) diet, 7-wk-old DIO rats had a 240% increase in plasma leptin levels after only 3 days. Despite this early leptin rise, they maintained a persistent hyperphagia and became more obese than chow-fed DIO rats and DR rats fed chow or HE diet. Their failure to reduce caloric intake, despite high levels of leptin, suggests that selectively bred DIO rats might have reduced leptin sensitivity similar to that seen in the outbred DIO parent strain.     

Diet-induced changes in hypothalamic pro-opio-melanocortin mRNA in the rat hypothalamus

Hypothalamic mRNA and peptide levels of pro-opio-melanocortin (POMC) and other neuropeptides were studied in rats that either develop obesity (diet-induced obese, DIO), when fed a palatable and hypercaloric diet (cafeteria diet, caf) or do not develop obesity (diet resistant, DR), when fed the same diet. cafDIO rats showed a significant increase in POMC, but not in melanin concentrating hormone, mRNA levels as determined by semiquantitative in situ hybridization. cafDR and cafDIO rats showed no change in POMC-derived peptide levels, whereas neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity was significantly increased in cafDR rats. POMC mRNA levels were also studied in high-fat diet-fed rats but no significant change was observed. Altered hypothalamic transmission by POMC-derived peptides may contribute to the susceptibility of cafDIO rats to the weight promoting action of caf diet.     

Meal Pattern Analysis of Diet‐Induced Obesity in Susceptible and Resistant Rats

Objective: To characterize the meal patterns of free feeding Sprague‐Dawley rats that become obese or resist obesity when chronically fed a high‐fat diet. Research Methods and Procedures: Male Sprague‐Dawley rats (N = 120) were weaned onto a high‐fat diet, and body weight was monitored for 19 weeks. Rats from the upper [diet‐induced obese (DIO)] and lower [diet‐resistant (DR)] deciles for body‐weight gain were selected for study. A cohort of chow‐fed (CF) rats weight‐matched to the DR group was also studied. Food intake was continuously monitored for 7 consecutive days using a BioDAQ food intake monitoring system. Results: DIO rats were obese, hyperphagic, hyperleptinemic, hyperinsulinemic, hyperglycemic, and hypertriglyceridemic relative to the DR and CF rats. The hyperphagia of DIOs was caused by an increase in meal size, not number. CF rats ate more calories than DR rats; however, this was because of an increase in meal number, not size. When expressed as a function of lean mass, CF and DR rats consumed the same amount of calories. The intermeal intervals of DIO and DR rats were similar; both were longer than CF rats. The nocturnal satiety ratio of DIO rats was significantly lower than DR and CF rats. The proportion of calories eaten during the nocturnal period did not differ among groups. Discussion: The hyperphagia of a Sprague‐Dawley rat model of chronic diet‐induced obesity is caused by an increase in meal size, not number. These results are an important step toward understanding the mechanisms underlying differences in feeding behavior of DIO and DR rats.     

Three weeks of early-onset exercise prolongs obesity resistance in DIO rats after exercise cessation

We assessed the effect of early-onset exercise as a means of preventing childhood obesity using juvenile male rats selectively bred to develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) or to be diet resistant (DR) when fed a 31% fat high-energy diet. Voluntary wheel running begun at 36 days of age selectively reduced adiposity in DIO vs. DR rats. Other 4-wk-old DIO rats fed a high-energy diet and exercised (Ex) for 13 wk increased their core temperature, gained 22% less body weight, and had 39% lighter fat pads compared with sedentary (Sed) rats. When wheels were removed after 6 wk (6 wk Ex/7 wk Sed), rats gained less body weight over the next 7 wk than Sed rats and still had comparable adipose pad weights to 13-wk-exercised rats. In fact, only 3 wk of exercise sufficed to prevent obesity for 10 wk after wheel removal. Terminally, the 6-wk-Ex/7-wk-Sed rats had a 55% increase in arcuate nucleus proopiomelanocortin mRNA expression vs. Sed rats, suggesting that this contributed to their sustained obesity resistance. Finally, when Sed rats were calorically restricted for 6 wk to weight match them to Ex rats (6 wk Rstr/7 wk Al), they increased their intake and body weight when fed ad libitum and, after 7 wk more, had higher leptin levels and adiposity than Sed rats. Thus, early-onset exercise may favorably alter, while early caloric restriction may unfavorably influence, the development of the hypothalamic pathways controlling energy homeostasis during brain development.     

Free-choice and no-choice high-fat diets affect striatal dopamine D2/3 receptor availability, caloric intake, and adiposity

Different types of high-fat (HF) diets are used to study diet-induced obesity (DIO) in rodents and this has led to different phenotypes. This study assesses whether different HF diets differentially affect striatal dopamine D(2/3) receptor (DRD(2/3)) availability, as decreased striatal DRD(2/3) availability has been implicated in obesity in relation to reward deficiency for food. Thirty rats were randomized to either a free-choice HF diet (HF-choice), a premixed HF diet (HF-no-choice), or a standard chow diet for 28 days. Striatal DRD(2/3) was measured using (123)I-IBZM storage phosphor imaging at day 29. DRD(2/3) availability was significantly decreased in the dorsal striatum in the HF-choice rats compared to chow rats, but not in HF-no-choice rats. Additionally, caloric intake of the HF-choice rats was significantly higher than that of HF-no-choice rats and serum leptin and percentage abdominal fat store weight of total body weight were significantly higher in the HF-choice rats compared to chow rats. These preliminary results suggest that the choice element in HF diets, which is possibly related to the motivational aspects of eating, leads to overconsumption and to a distinct state of obesity. These results are relevant for future studies on DIO when considering choice of diet type.     

Reduced central leptin sensitivity in rats with diet-induced obesity

On low-fat chow diet, rats prone to diet-induced obesity (DIO) have increased arcuate nucleus neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression but similar leptin levels compared with diet-resistant (DR) rats (19). Here, body weight and leptin levels rose in DIO rats, and they defended their higher body weight after only 1 wk on a 31% fat high-energy (HE) diet. However, DIO NPY expression did not fall to DR levels until 4 wk when plasma leptin was 168% of DR levels. When switched to chow, DIO rats lost carcass fat (18). By 10 wk, leptin levels fell to 148% and NPY expression again rose to 150% of DR levels. During 4 wk of food restriction, DIO leptin fell by approximately 50% while NPY increased by 30%. While both returned to control levels by 8 wk, DIO rats still regained all lost weight when fed ad libitum. Finally, the anorexic effect of intracerebroventricular leptin (10 microg) was inversely correlated with subsequent 3-wk weight gain on HE diet. Thus NPY expression and food intake are less sensitive to the leptin's suppressive effects in DIO rats. While this may predispose them to develop DIO, it does not fully explain their defense of a higher body weight on HE diet.