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Acute leptin treatment enhances functional recovery after spinal cord injury
Citation
Fernandez-Martos, CM and Gonzalez, P and Rodriguez, FJ, Acute leptin treatment enhances functional recovery after spinal cord injury, PLoS One, 7, (4) Article e35594. ISSN 1932-6203 (2012) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2012 FernaŽndez-Martos et al. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035594
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Spinal cord injury is a major cause of long-term disability and has no current clinically accepted treatment. Leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, is best known as a regulator of food intake and energy expenditure. Interestingly, several studies have demonstrated that leptin has significant effects on proliferation and cell survival in different neuropathologies. Here, we sought to evaluate the role of leptin after spinal cord injury.
FINDINGS:
Based on its proposed neuroprotective role, we have evaluated the effects of a single, acute intraparenchymal injection of leptin in a clinically relevant animal model of spinal cord injury. As determined by quantitative Real Time-PCR, endogenous leptin and the long isoform of the leptin receptor genes show time-dependent variations in their expression in the healthy and injured adult spinal cord. Immunohistochemical analysis of post-injury tissue showed the long isoform of the leptin receptor expression in oligodendrocytes and, to a lesser extent, in astrocytes, microglia/macrophages and neurons. Moreover, leptin administered after spinal cord injury increased the expression of neuroprotective genes, reduced caspase-3 activity and decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory molecules. In addition, histological analysis performed at the completion of the study showed that leptin treatment reduced microglial reactivity and increased caudal myelin preservation, but it did not modulate astroglial reactivity. Consequently, leptin improved the recovery of sensory and locomotor functioning.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our data suggest that leptin has a prominent neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory role in spinal cord damage and highlights leptin as a promising therapeutic agent.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Biomedical and Clinical Sciences |
| Research Group: | Neurosciences |
| Research Field: | Neurology and neuromuscular diseases |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Clinical health |
| Objective Field: | Clinical health not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Fernandez-Martos, CM (Dr Carmen Fernandez-Martos) |
| ID Code: | 86008 |
| Year Published: | 2012 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 49 |
| Deposited By: | Medicine |
| Deposited On: | 2013-08-20 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-07 |
| Downloads: | 144 View Download Statistics |
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