Long-Acting and Selective Oxytocin Peptide Analogs Show Antidiabetic and Antiobesity Effects in Male Mice.

Oxytocin (OXT) has been shown to suppress appetite, induce weight loss, and improve glycemic control and lipid metabolism in several species, including humans, monkeys, and rodents. However, OXT's short half-life in circulation and lack of receptor selectivity limit its application and efficacy. In this study, we report an OXT peptide analog (OXTGly) that is potent and selective for the OXT receptor (OXTR). OXT, but not OXTGly, activated vasopressin receptors in vitro and acutely increased blood pressure in vivo when administered IP. OXT suppressed food intake in mice, whereas OXTGly had a moderate effect on food intake when administered IP or intracerebroventricularly. Both OXT (IP) and OXTGly (IP) improved glycemic control in glucose tolerance tests. Additionally, both OXT (IP) and OXTGly (IP) stimulated insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1, and glucagon secretion in mice. We generated lipid-conjugated OXT (acylated-OXT) and OXTGly (acylated-OXTGly) and demonstrated that these molecules have significantly extended half-lives in vivo. Compared with OXT, 2-week treatment of diet-induced obese mice with acylated-OXT [subcutaneous(ly) (SC)] resulted in enhanced body weight reduction, an improved lipid profile, and gene expression changes consistent with increased lipolysis and decreased gluconeogenesis. Treatment with acylated-OXTGly (SC) also resulted in a statistically significant weight loss, albeit to a lesser degree compared with acylated-OXT treatment. In conclusion, we demonstrate that selective activation of the OXTR pathway results in both acute and chronic metabolic benefits, whereas potential activation of vasopressin receptors by nonselective OXT analogs causes physiological stress that contributes to additional weight loss.

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21-Null Mice Do Not Exhibit an Impaired Response to Fasting.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a pleotropic metabolic regulator, expression of which is elevated during fasting. To this end, the precise role played by FGF21 in the biology of fasting has been the subject of several recent studies, which have demonstrated contributions to the regulation of both lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. In the present study, we compared wild-type (WT) and FGF21-null (FGF21KO) mice, demonstrating that, despite the significant induction of FGF21 during fasting in the WT animals, our strain of FGF21-null mice exhibits only limited impairments in their adaptation to nutrient deprivation. Specifically, fasted FGF21KO mice display a mild attenuation of gluconeogenic transcriptional induction in the liver accompanied by partially blunted glucose production in response to a pyruvate challenge. Furthermore, FGF21KO mice displayed only minor impairments in lipid metabolism in the fasted state, limited to accumulation of hepatic triglycerides and a reduction in expression of genes associated with fatty acid oxidation. To address the possibility of compensation to germline deletion of FGF21, we further interrogated the role of endogenous FGF21 via acute pharmacological blockade of FGF21 signaling. At the transcriptional level, we show that FGF21 signaling is required for full induction of gluconeogenic and oxidative genes in the liver. However, corroborating our findings in FGF21KO mice, pharmacological blockade of the FGF21 axis did not profoundly disrupt the physiological response to fasting. Taken as a whole, these data demonstrate that, while FGF21 is partially required for appropriate gene expression during the fed to fasted transition, its absence does not significantly impact the downstream physiology of the fasted state.