Ayesha K. Batra

Maternal High Fat Diet Is Associated with Decreased Plasma n–3 Fatty Acids and Fetal Hepatic Apoptosis in Nonhuman Primates

To begin to understand the contributions of maternal obesity and over-nutrition to human development and the early origins of obesity, we utilized a non-human primate model to investigate the effects of maternal high-fat feeding and obesity on breast milk, maternal and fetal plasma fatty acid composition and fetal hepatic development. While the high-fat diet (HFD) contained equivalent levels of n-3 fatty acids (FAs) and higher levels of n-6 FAs than the control diet (CTR), we found significant decreases in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 FAs in HFD maternal and fetal plasma. Furthermore, the HFD fetal plasma n-6∶n-3 ratio was elevated and was significantly correlated to the maternal plasma n-6∶n-3 ratio and maternal hyperinsulinemia. Hepatic apoptosis was also increased in the HFD fetal liver. Switching HFD females to a CTR diet during a subsequent pregnancy normalized fetal DHA, n-3 FAs and fetal hepatic apoptosis to CTR levels. Breast milk from HFD dams contained lower levels of eicosopentanoic acid (EPA) and DHA and lower levels of total protein than CTR breast milk. This study links chronic maternal consumption of a HFD with fetal hepatic apoptosis and suggests that a potentially pathological maternal fatty acid milieu is replicated in the developing fetal circulation in the nonhuman primate.

Regulation of Agouti-Related Protein Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Transcription and Peptide Secretion by Acute and Chronic Inflammation

Agouti-related protein (AgRP) is an orexigenic neuropeptide produced by neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) that is a key component of central neural circuits that control food intake and energy expenditure. Disorders in energy homeostasis, characterized by hypophagia and increased metabolic rate, frequently develop in animals with either acute or chronic diseases. Recently, studies have demonstrated that proopiomelanocortin-expressing neurons in the ARC are activated by the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1beta. In the current study, we sought to determine whether inflammatory processes regulate the expression of AgRP mRNA and to characterize the response of AgRP neurons to IL-1beta. Here, we show by real-time RT-PCR and in situ hybridization analysis that AgRP mRNA expression in rodents is increased in models of acute and chronic inflammation. AgRP neurons were found to express the type I IL-1 receptor, and the percentage of expression was significantly increased after peripheral administration of lipopolysaccharide. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IL-1beta inhibits the release of AgRP from hypothalamic explants. Collectively, these data indicate that proinflammatory signals decrease the secretion of AgRP while increasing the transcription of the AgRP gene. These observations suggest that AgRP neurons may participate with ARC proopiomelanocortin neurons in mediating the anorexic and metabolic responses to acute and chronic disease processes.

Genetic and Pharmacologic Blockade of Central Melanocortin Signaling Attenuates Cardiac Cachexia in Rodent Models of Heart Failure

The central melanocortin system plays a key role in the regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis. We investigated whether genetic or pharmacologic blockade of central melanocortin signaling attenuates cardiac cachexia in mice and rats with heart failure. Permanent ligation of the left coronary artery (myocardial infarction (MI)) or sham operation was performed in wild-type (WT) or melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) knockout mice. Eight weeks after surgery, WT-Sham mice had significant increases in lean body mass (LBM; P<0·05) and fat mass (P<0·05), whereas WT-MI did not gain significant amounts of LBM or fat mass. Resting basal metabolic rate (BMR) was significantly lower in WT-Sham mice compared to WT-MI mice (P<0·001). In contrast, both MC4-Sham and MC4-MI mice gained significant amounts of LBM (P<0·05) and fat mass (P<0·05) over the study period. There was no significant difference in the BMR between MC4-Sham and MC4-MI mice. In the second experiment, rats received aortic bands or sham operations, and after recovery received i.c.v. injections of either artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) or the melanocortin antagonist agouti-related protein (AGRP) for 2 weeks. Banded rats receiving AGRP gained significant amount of LBM (P<0·05) and fat mass (P<0·05) over the treatment period, whereas banded rats receiving aCSF did not gain significant amounts of LBM or fat mass. These results demonstrated that genetic and pharmacologic blockade of melanocortin signaling attenuated the metabolic manifestations of cardiac cachexia in murine and rat models of heart failure.

Arcuate nucleus proopiomelanocortin neurons mediate the acute anorectic actions of leukemia inhibitory factor via gp130

The proinflammatory cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is induced in disease states and is known to inhibit food intake when administered centrally. However, the neural pathways underlying this effect are not well understood. We demonstrate that LIF acutely inhibits food intake by directly activating pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. We show that arcuate POMC neurons express the LIF-R, and that LIF stimulates the release of the anorexigenic peptide, alpha-MSH from ex vivo hypothalami. Transgenic mice lacking gp130, the signal transducing subunit of the LIF-R complex, specifically in POMC neurons fail to respond to LIF. Furthermore, LIF does not stimulate the release of alpha-MSH from the transgenic hypothalamic explants. These findings indicate that POMC neurons mediate the acute anorectic actions of central LIF administration and provide a mechanistic link between inflammation and food intake.

Prostacyclin signaling regulates circulating ghrelin during acute inflammation

Ghrelin is an octanoylated 28 amino acid peptide predominantly secreted by the stomach, and has potent stimulatory effects on appetite. Several laboratories, including our own, have demonstrated that ghrelin levels fall in states of acute inflammation brought about by injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We now demonstrate that the decrease in circulating ghrelin is not due to a decrease in ghrelin gene expression, but is instead likely to be due to an acute decrease in ghrelin secretion. Furthermore, we have found that the change in circulating ghrelin during acute inflammation required a prostaglandin second messenger, but did not require the synthesis of nitric oxide. Interestingly, i.v. injection of prostaglandin E(2) failed to decrease circulating ghrelin levels, whereas prostacyclin decreased circulating ghrelin to a similar extent as did LPS. We also provide anatomical evidence for the mechanism of the regulation of ghrelin by inflammation. We demonstrate that the type 1 interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) receptor is expressed within the gastric mucosa, but is not expressed by ghrelin cells. The prostacyclin receptor was also expressed in the gastric mucosa, and the majority of ghrelin-producing cells were found to co-express this receptor. Mice with genetic deletion of the type 1 IL-1 receptor do not suppress circulating ghrelin levels with LPS administration. Collectively, these data support a model in which the mechanism of inflammation induced decreases in ghrelin are due to the action of IL-1beta on cells within the gastric mucosa that in turn produce prostacyclin as a second messenger. These data provide further support for the potential role of ghrelin as a therapeutic agent in acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Variable penetrance of metabolic phenotypes and development of high-fat diet-induced adiposity in NEIL1-deficient mice

Exposure to chronic and acute oxidative stress is correlated with many human diseases, including, but not limited to, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In addition to cellular lipids and proteins, cellular oxidative stress can result in damage to DNA bases, especially in mitochondrial DNA. We previously described the development of spontaneous late-onset obesity, hepatic steatosis, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperleptinemia in mice that are deficient in the DNA glycosylase nei-like 1 (NEIL1), which initiates base excision repair of several oxidatively damaged bases. In the current study, we report that exposure to a chronic oxidative stress in the form of a high-fat diet greatly accelerates the development of obesity in neil1(-/-) mice. Following a 5-wk high-fat diet challenge, neil1(-/-) mice gained significantly more body weight than neil1(+/+) littermates and had increased body fat accumulation and moderate to severe hepatic steatosis. Analysis of oxygen consumption by indirect calorimetry indicated a modest reduction in total oxygen consumption in neil1(-/-) mice that was abolished upon correction for lean body mass. Additionally, hepatic expression of several inflammatory genes was significantly upregulated in neil1(-/-) mice following high-fat diet challenge compared with chow-fed or neil1(+/+) counterparts. A long-term high-fat diet also induced glucose intolerance as well as a significant reduction in mitochondrial DNA and protein content in neil1(-/-) mice. Collectively, these data indicate that NEIL1 deficiency results in an increased susceptibility to obesity and related complications potentially by lowering the threshold for tolerance of cellular oxidative stress in neil1(-/-) mice.

10 BLOCKADE OF CENTRAL MELANOCORTIN SIGNALING PROMOTES ACCUMULATION OF LEAN BODY MASS IN RODENT MODELS OF CHRONIC HEART FAILURE.

Cachexia is a frequent complication of chronic illness and infectious disease. This devastating state of malnutrition is brought about by a synergistic combination of a decrease in appetite and an increase in metabolism of fat and lean body mass (LBM). Cardiac cachexia is a frequent complication of chronic heart failure (CHF) and is a determining factor in both the quality of life and eventual mortality in CHF patients. Experimental evidence suggests a role for proinflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of cardiac cachexia, but the neuronal systems involved in transducing these signals have not been fully defined. To investigate the potential contribution of the central melanocortin system (CMS) in the transduction of cardiac cachexia, we developed two independent rodent models of CHF and measured the effect of CMS signaling blockade on the ability of these animals to accumulate and maintain LBM. In one model, we induced CHF in male 6- to 8-month-old wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J or MC4-RKO mice by permanent coronary artery ligation (CAL) of the left anterior descending coronary artery and measured their LBM 8 weeks after surgery by DEXA analysis. We found that WT mice receiving sham operations (n = 30) gained significantly more LBM compared with WT mice that had undergone CAL (n = 14) (13.0 g ± 1.2 g vs 4.1 g ± 2.9 g; p