Hormonal regulation of visfatin and adiponectin system in quail muscle cells

Visfatin and adiponectin are two adipokines known to regulate energy homeostasis and stress response within different peripheral tissues. Their role and regulation in highly metabolically active tissue such as the muscle is of particular interest. As modern poultry exhibit insulin resistance, obesity, and hyperglycemia along with a lack of insight into the regulation of these avian adipokines, we undertook the present work to determine the regulation of visfatin and adiponectin system by cytokines and obesity-related hormones in a relevant in vitro model of avian muscle, quail muscle (QM7) cells. Cells were treated with pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 (5 and 10 ng/mL) and TNFα (5 and 10 ng/mL), as well as leptin (10 and 100 ng/mL) and both orexin-A and orexin-B (ORX-A/B) (5 and 10 ng/mL). Results showed significant increases in visfatin mRNA abundance under both cytokines (IL-6 and TNFα), and down regulation with ORX-B treatment. Adiponectin expression was also upregulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNFα), but down regulated by leptin, ORX-A, and ORXB. High doses of IL-6 and TNFα up regulated the expression of adiponectin receptors AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, respectively. Leptin and orexin treatments also down regulated both AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 expression. Taken together, this is the first report showing a direct response of visfatin and the adiponectin system to pro-inflammatory and obesity-related hormones in avian muscle cells.