Impact of the cooperative effect of estrogen and orexin on abnormalities with emotion and metabolism in menopausal mice

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K15599
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Obstetrics and gynecology
• Research Institution: University of Toyama
• Principal Investigator: Sasaoka Toshiyasu 富山大学, 大学院医学薬学研究部(薬学), 教授 (00272906)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: オレキシン / エストロゲン / 閉経期 / 糖代謝 / インスリン抵抗性 / 日内リズム / ストレス / うつ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined the cooperative protective role of estrogen and orexin in abnormalities with emotion and metabolism in menopausal mice. Female, but not male mice, were protected against metabolic abnormalities fed high-fat diet. The additional orexin deficiency induced the metabolic abnormalities in the female mice. Ovariectomized orexin knockout mice fed high-fat diet presented excessive weight gain and impaired glucose tolerance. The impaired glucose tolerance was ameliorated when estrogen was administered intracerebroventricularly to the ovariectomized high-fat fed mice. However, the beneficial effect of estrogen was disappeared in the ovariectomized mice lacking orexin. These results indicate that estrogen and orexin cooperatively regulate glucose and energy homeostasis in female mice.

Free Research Field

糖尿病・内分泌