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Regulation of ob Gene Expression: Evidence for Epinephrine-Induced Suppression in Human Obesity

Dipartimento di Medicina Interna (Centro di Nutrizione Clinica e Malattie Metaboliche) (L.C., M.B., G.D.R.) and Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche (S.F., E.T.), Università di Modena, 41100 Modena, Italy

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Graziano Del Rio, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Policlinico di Modena, Via Del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy. E-mail: delrio{at}unimo.it

Leptin acts as satiety factor and increases energy expenditure. Studies conducted on animals and in vitro on adipocytes culture have shown that infusion of catecholamines leads to a significant reduction of ob gene expression; it appears of interest to evaluate the in vivo effects of adrenergic activation on the expression of the ob gene in humans.

We studied ob gene expression in adipose tissue samples from 13 obese subjects before and after epinephrine (25 ng/min·kg ideal body weight for 3 h) and 6 obese patients during saline infusion. Hormonal infusion led to a significant increase in epinephrine plasma levels (from 27 ± 4 to 339 ± 75 pg/mL; P < 0.001), plasma free fatty acids (from 0.73 ± 0.05 to 0.98 ± 0.07; P < 0.05), heart rate (13.5 ± 3.1 beats/min; F = 2.9; P < 0.03), and systolic blood pressure (F = 2.7; P < 0.05), whereas diastolic blood pressure did not show significant variation. Plasma leptin levels decreased by the end of the infusion (from 63 ± 13 to 49 ± 11 ng/mL; P < 0.05), and ob messenger ribonucleic acid levels were significantly reduced (decrease amounting to 47 ± 5% of basal values). Our study shows that adrenergic activation contributes to regulate ob messenger ribonucleic acid levels in humans. The interaction between epinephrine and leptin may operate during metabolic and psychological stress to regulate energy expenditure and food intake.

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