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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Cellular Endocrinology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1386230
This article is part of the Research Topic Multifaceted Cannabinoids: Regulators of Normal and Pathological Function in Metabolic and Endocrine Organs, volume II View all 4 articles

Characterization of the effects of cannabinoid receptor deletion on energy metabolism in female C57BL mice

Provisionally accepted
Morgan R. Sotzen Morgan R. Sotzen 1Ahmed Ahmed Ahmed Ahmed 1Lawrence Olson Lawrence Olson 1Omayma Alshaarawy Omayma Alshaarawy 2*
  • 1 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States
  • 2 College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Despite the evidence that energy balance is regulated differently in females and that the endocannabinoid system is sexually dimorphic, previous studies on the endocannabinoid system and energy balance predominantly used male models.Here, we characterize the effects of cannabinoid receptor deletion on body weight gain and glucose metabolism in female C57BL mice.Methods: Female mice lacking the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R -/-), cannabinoid-2 receptor (CB2R -/-), or both receptors (CB1R -/-/CB2R -/-) and wild-type (WT) mice were fed with a low (LFD; 10% of calories from fat) or high-fat diet (HFD; 45% of calories from fat) for six weeks.Results: Female WT mice fed with HFD gained significantly more weight than WT mice fed with LFD (p < 0.001). Similar pattern was observed for CB1R /-mice fed with HFD compared to CB2R -/-mice fed with LFD (p < 0.001), but not for CB1R -/-fed with HFD vs.LFD (p = 0.22) or CB1R -/-/CB2R -/-fed with HFD vs. LFD (p = 0.96). Comparing the 4 groups on LFD, weight gain of CB1R -/-mice was greater than all other genotypes (p < 0.05). When fed with HFD, the deletion of CB1R alone in females did not attenuate weight gain compared to WT mice (p = 0.72). Female CB1R -/-/CB2R -/-mice gained less weight than WT mice when fed with HFD (p = 0.007) despite similar food intake and locomotor activity, potentially owing to enhanced thermogenesis in the white adipose tissue. No significant difference in weight gain was observed for female CB2R -/-and WT mice on LFD or HFD. Fasting glucose, however, was higher in CB2R -/-mice fed with LFD than all other groups (p < 0.05).The effects of cannabinoid receptor deletion on glucose metabolism in female mice were similar to previously published findings on male mice, yet the effects on body weight gain and thermogenesis were attenuated in CB1R -/-mice.

    Keywords: Cannabinoids, female, Body Weight, glucose metabolism, Thermogenesis

    Received: 14 Feb 2024; Accepted: 24 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sotzen, Ahmed, Olson and Alshaarawy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Omayma Alshaarawy, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States

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