Difference in obesity phenotype between orexin-knockout mice and orexin neuron-deficient mice with same genetic background and environmental conditions.
Orexins are a pair of neuropeptides expressed by a population of neurons located in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). Prepro-orexin- or orexin receptor type 2-deficient animals exhibit a phenotype remarkably similar to the human sleep disorder, narcolepsy, which is characterized by sleep/wakefulness fragmentation. Human narcolepsy is known to be associated with metabolic abnormalities, including an increased frequency of obesity and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Complex disruption of energy homeostasis in orexin neuron-deficient transgenic mice (orexin/ataxin-3 mice) is also manifested as late-onset obesity despite eating less. Here, we report that the development of obesity in orexin neuron-ablated narcoleptic mice is critically dependent on their genetic background and environmental factors, and the phenotype is different from that of prepro-orexin knockout mice even under the same genetic background and environmental factors, suggesting that factors that co-localize in orexin neurons might have important roles in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Our observation also suggests that the obesity observed in orexin neuron-deficient narcolepsy is dependent on the genetic background and environmental factors.[1]References
- Difference in obesity phenotype between orexin-knockout mice and orexin neuron-deficient mice with same genetic background and environmental conditions. Hara, J., Yanagisawa, M., Sakurai, T. Neurosci. Lett. (2005) [Pubmed]
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