Interestingly, leptin has been shown to play a significant role in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance related to obesity because leptin replacement reverses insulin resistance and diabetes in mice homozygous for mutations of the
ob gene. [11]
Regulation of
ob gene expression and leptin secretion by insulin and dexamethasone in rat adipocytes.
Novel polymorphism of the human
ob gene promoter in lean and morbidly obese subjects.
Evidence against either a premature stop codon or the absence of
Ob gene mRNA in human obesity.
Leptin, the product of the
ob gene, is believed to be involved in regulating neuroendocrine (both hypothalamic and gonadal) mechanisms of reproduction.
Leptin, the product of the
ob gene, is a hormone secreted by adipocytes.
The protein product of the
ob gene, called leptin, mainly but not exclusively produced by white adipose tissue, is thought to suppress appetite and regulate energy homeostasis (1,2).
Leptin, the product of
Ob gene promotes angiogenesis.
C57BL/KsJ is an inbred strain distinct from the CS7BL/6J strain, which serves as the recipient of the
ob gene. In the C57BL/KsJ strain of mice, the diabetes db gene mutation occurred spontaneously (Shafrir, 1992).
Mutation of the mouse
ob gene results in profound obesity and Type 11 diabetes as part of a syndrome that resembles morbid obesity (body weight exceeding 100% of ideal) in humans (Friedman, Leibel, Siegel, Walsh, & Bahary, 1991).
When these changes near the
OB gene occur in combination with a version of the D2 dopamine receptor gene known as the A1 allele, the likelihood of obesity in young women rises even further, they argue.