Abstract
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a major cytokine involved in both normal physiological brain functions and underlying significant neuropathology. IL-6 has been suggested to play a role in the control of body weight but the results are somewhat controversial. In this study we have challenged transgenic mice with astrocyte-targeted IL-6 expression (GFAP-IL6 mice) with a high-fat diet (55% kcal from fat) versus a control diet (10%). The results demonstrate that the GFAP-IL6 mice are resistant to high-fat diet-induced increases in body weight and body fat, apparently without altering food intake and with no evidences of increased sympathetic tone. The high-fat diet-induced impaired responses to an insulin tolerance test (ITT), and to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in both genotypes. The GFAP-IL6 mice did not differ from littermate wild-type (WT) mice in ITT, but they were more glucose intolerant following the high-fat diet feeding. In summary, the present results demonstrate that brain-specific IL-6 controls body weight which may be a significant factor in physiological conditions and/or in diseases causing neuroinflammation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 119-126 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Brain, Behavior, and Immunity |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Body weight
- Brain
- Fat diet
- IL-6
- ITT
- Neuroinflammation
- OGTT
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology
- Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
- Behavioral Neuroscience