Je. Morley et al., MEASUREMENT OF NITRIC-OXIDE SYNTHASE AND ITS MESSENGER-RNA IN GENETICALLY-OBESE (OB OB) MICE/, Life sciences, 57(14), 1995, pp. 1327-1331
Citations number
15
Categorie Soggetti
Biology,"Medicine, Research & Experimental","Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Recent studies have suggested a role for nitric oxide (NO) in the regu
lation of food intake. The obese (ob/ob) mouse is a genetic model of o
besity. Previously, it has been demonstrated that ob/ob mice show a ma
rked weight reduction when treated with a nitric oxide synthase inhibi
tor. In the studies reported here, we demonstrate increased levels of
nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and its mRNA in the hypothalamus of geneti
cally obese (ob/ob) mice compared to their lean littermate controls (o
b/c). NOS levels were 0.016 +/- 0.001 nmol/mg/min in ob/ob compared to
0.009 +/- 0.001 in ob/c (p < 0.01) and NOS mRNA was 32.0 +/- 5.0 pg N
OS mRNA/mg total RNA in ob/ob compared to 12.4 +/- 4.0 in ob/c (p < 0.
05). These studies further support the possibility of a role for nitri
c oxide in the regulation of food intake.