Energy availability influences reproductive fitness. The activity of the re
productive axis is sensitive to the adequacy of nutrition and the stores of
metabolic reserves. The adipocyte-derived hormone leptin is postulated to
reflect the state of nutrition and energy reserves and serve as a metabolic
gate to the reproductive system. Genetically obese ob/ob mice (lacking end
ogenous leptin) are infertile, and treatment of these animals with exogenou
s leptin stimulates the activity of the reproductive endocrine system and i
nduces fertility in both sexes. Severely food-restricted animals have reduc
ed circulating levels of leptin, which are associated with markedly reduced
secretion of the gonadotropins, LH, and FSH. Treatment of food-restricted
mice, rats, sheep, and monkeys with exogenous leptin reverses the diet-indu
ced inhibition of gonadotropin secretion. Leptin has also been suggested to
have a role in timing the onset of puberty in several species, although ev
idence that leptin is the primary metabolic signal for initiating the onset
of puberty in any species is controversial. Notwithstanding this debate, i
t is undisputed for all species studied to date that adequate levels of lep
tin in the circulation are essential (but not sufficient) for pubertal prog
ression and that leptin treatment can reverse the delay in sexual maturatio
n caused by food restriction. Double-label in situ hybridization studies in
the brain of the mouse, rat, and monkey have revealed that hypothalamic ne
urons expressing proopiomelanocortin and neuropeptide Y coexpress the lepti
n receptor, whereas no evidence has been adduced that GnRH neurons express
this receptor. Together, these observations suggest that leptin is a metabo
lic signal to the neuroendocrine reproductive system and that under conditi
ons of inadequate energy reserves, low leptin levels act as a metabolic "ga
te" to inhibit the activity of the neuroendocrine reproductive axis in both
sexes.