Effect Of Leptin Status On Neuroendocrine- Reproductive Regulation And Maternal-Fetal Nutrient Transfer In Wistar Albino Rats

Abstract

Effect of leptin status on neuroendocrine-reproductive regulation in wistar rats was studied. Ten wistar rats weighing between 170-280g were randomly assigned into two study groups. The animals in Group 1 (the control) received a placebo of 5.0ml distilled water while those in Group two were treated with 100mg insulin/kg body weight of rat via gastric intubation. The experiment lasted for 21 days. One day after the final exposure, the animals were euthanized by inhalation of over dose of chloroform. The brain of each rat was harvested and processed into whole homogenate, and was used for some biochemicals assays (i.e isolation and purification of RNA, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and leptin assay). The results showed that insulin increased the secretion of leptin, which in turn, reduced feed intake, and energy balance, leading to increased MRNA expression, suggesting that leptin may be involved in the control of appetite and maturation of luteneizing hormone secretory axis, which may be associated with development of the neuroendocrine axis (i.e neuroendocrine signal transduction). The study may suggest that leptin may serve as effectors that link mechanism that regulate reproduction and energy balance, thus playing an important role in reproduction and energy balance; modulating maternal nutrient partitioning inorder to optimize the provision of nutrients for fetal growth.