Files
Abstract
The administration of Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor (CNTF), a neurocytokine recently implicated for its role in energy homeostasis, results in a reduction of food intake and body weight and induces adipose tissue apoptosis in vivo. The first two objectives of this study, determining the effects of CNTF on food intake and body weight as well as adipocyte apoptosis, were tested by injecting rats intracerebroventricular (icv) with CNTF or vehicle for 4 days before sacrificing for data collection and analysis. The high dose of CNTF (3.2 nM) caused a reduction in food intake and body weight, and induced adipose tissue apoptosis in specific fat pads. The third objective was to determine whether CNTF acts directly on 3T3-L1-derived adipocytes to induce apoptosis. CNTF did not cause apoptosis in vitro. To confirm that CNTF was acting directly on the adipocytes, Western Blot analysis was used to measure the expression of the activated phosphorylated STAT 3 in vitro.