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Experimental Approach to Examine Leptin Signaling in the Carotid Bodies and its Effects on Control of Breathing
Published on: October 25, 2019
Leptin and bone: does the brain control bone biology?
1University of North Carolina, Greensboro 27412-5001, USA.
Abstract:
The means by which obesity leads to high bone density and protects individuals from osteoporosis is not known. The study of bone biology in two mouse models of obesity, leptin-deficient (ob/ob) and leptin receptor-deficient (db/db) mice, points to a role for leptin in the control of bone density. When leptin action is missing in these mice, bone density is high. This is true despite concurrent hypogonadism and hypercortisolism, two strong proresorptive signals that would normally lead to low bone density. Curiously, leptin does not have a direct effect on osteoblasts, which suggests the existence of a central, neuroendocrine pathway that controls bone mass.
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