ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Integrative Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1592317
Leptin's crucial modulatory role in regulating body mass homeostasis of high-fat-fed striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius)
Provisionally accepted
- Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
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To investigate into the role of leptin in body mass in high-fat-fed animals. Male striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius) fed high-fat diets were given leptin (0.5μg/g.d) via intraperitoneal injection for 28 days. Their body mass, digestive metrics, and physiological parameters of food consumption and energy metabolism were compared to those of the control and high-fat food groups. Firstly, the high-fat diet did not cause weight gain in A.agrarius, and the animals on the diet ate less and had higher apparent digestibility.Furthermore, exogenous leptin injection in A. agrarius reduced food intake, increased fecal content, and reduced apparent digestibility. Additionally, exogenous leptin injection inhibited the activity of the AMPK in the hypothalamus, increased the activity of malonyl CoA, inhibited the expression of orexigenic neuropeptide mRNA, promoted the expression of anorexigenic neuropeptide mRNA, and thus reduced food intake and body mass. Finally, exogenous leptin injection increased uncoupling protein 1 content, T45'-deiodinase II activity, and cytochrome C oxidase activity in brown adipose tissue, increased serum triiodothyronine, and increased animal energy consumption. In conclusion, our data indicate that leptin affects body mass in animals on a high-fat diet in two ways: by inhibiting food intake and increasing energy expenditure.
Keywords: Apodemus agrarius, Leptin, Body mass, High-fat food, AMPK
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ren, Guo, Hou, Chen, Pu, Tao, Ren and Yang. 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: Yue Ren, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
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