Transgenic mice with astrocyte-targeted production of interleukin-6 are resistant to high-fat diet-induced increases in body weight and body fat

Juan Hidalgo, Sergi Florit, Mercedes Giralt, Beatriz Ferrer, Charlotte Keller, Henriette Pilegaard

45 Citations (Scopus)

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 languageEnglish
JournalBrain, Behavior, and Immunity
Volume24
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)119-26
Number of pages7
ISSN0889-1591
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2010

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