| When a person's body mass index (BMI) is equal to or greater than 30, we could define him/her as obese. Obesity is one of the leading causes of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, I investigate the link between leptin, the product of obesity gene, and insulin-stimulated signaling pathways leading to glucose uptake. The effect of leptin on cardiac myocyte hyperplasia was also examined in order to study the role of leptin in the association of obesity and heart failure.; The long-standing dogma that cardiac myocytes are terminally differentiated has been replaced by the appreciation that myocyte regeneration plays an important role in cardiac homeostasis. In this study, I also investigated the effect of leptin on proliferation of HL-1 murine cardiac myocytes measured both by cell counting and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation. Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and its association with the development of heart failure, the ability of leptin to increase myocyte regeneration may be of substantial clinical relevance. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
