The Effects of Leptin Replacement on Neural Plasticity

Leptin, an adipokine synthesized and secreted mainly by the adipose tissue, has multiple effects on the regulation of food intake, energy expenditure, and metabolism. Its recently-approved analogue, metreleptin, has been evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with leptin deficien...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of neural transplantation & plasticity 2016-01, Vol.2016 (2016), p.1-8
Main Author: Paz-Filho, Gilberto J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adipose tissues
Amenorrhea
Amenorrhea - drug therapy
Animals
Brain - drug effects
Brain - metabolism
Brain - physiopathology
Cell cycle
Congenital diseases
Cytokines
Disease
Female
Genetic aspects
Glutamate
Homeostasis
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormones
Humans
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus - metabolism
Hypothalamus - physiopathology
Kinases
Leptin
Leptin - analogs & derivatives
Leptin - deficiency
Leptin - genetics
Leptin - physiology
Leptin - therapeutic use
Lipodystrophy - drug therapy
Male
Mediation
Metabolism
Mutation
Neuronal Plasticity
Neurons
Peptides
Phosphatase
Proteins
Review
Signal transduction
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:Leptin, an adipokine synthesized and secreted mainly by the adipose tissue, has multiple effects on the regulation of food intake, energy expenditure, and metabolism. Its recently-approved analogue, metreleptin, has been evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with leptin deficiency due to mutations in the leptin gene, lipodystrophy syndromes, and hypothalamic amenorrhea. In such patients, leptin replacement therapy has led to changes in brain structure and function in intra- and extrahypothalamic areas, including the hippocampus. Furthermore, in one of those patients, improvements in neurocognitive development have been observed. In addition to this evidence linking leptin to neural plasticity and function, observational studies evaluating leptin-sufficient humans have also demonstrated direct correlation between blood leptin levels and brain volume and inverse associations between circulating leptin and risk for the development of dementia. This review summarizes the evidence in the literature on the role of leptin in neural plasticity (in leptin-deficient and in leptin-sufficient individuals) and its effects on synaptic activity, glutamate receptor trafficking, neuronal morphology, neuronal development and survival, and microglial function.
ISSN:2090-5904
0792-8483
1687-5443
DOI:10.1155/2016/8528934