apelin-13-peptide and Overweight

Apelin is an adipose tissue derived peptidergic hormone. In this study, 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were used (four groups; n = 10). Apelin-13 at three different dosages (1, 5 and 50 μg/kg) was given intraperitoneally while the control group received vehicle the same route for a period of 14 days. In results, apelin-13 caused significant decreases in serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels (p < 0.05). Administration of apelin-13 significantly increased body weights, food intake, serum low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol levels (p < 0.05), but caused significant decreases in high-density lipoprotein levels (p < 0.05). Serum glucose and triglyceride levels were not significantly altered by apelin-13 administration. Significant decreases in both uncoupling protein (UCP)-1 levels in the white and brown adipose tissues and UCP-3 levels in the biceps muscle (p < 0.05) were noted. The findings of the study suggest that apelin-13 may not only lead to obesity by increasing body weight but also cause infertility by suppressing reproductive hormones.

Topics: Adipose Tissue, Brown; Adipose Tissue, White; Animals; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Energy Intake; Energy Metabolism; Feeding Behavior; Gonadotropins, Pituitary; Hypercholesterolemia; Infertility, Male; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Male; Muscle, Skeletal; Overweight; Random Allocation; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Testosterone; Toxicity Tests, Chronic; Uncoupling Protein 1; Uncoupling Protein 3; Weight Gain