Inhibition of Adipose Tissue Angiogenesis Prevents Rebound Weight Regain after Calorie Restriction Independent of Hypothalamic Melanocortin System in Obese Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

Abstract

Prevention of rebound weight gain after dieting is essential to treat obesity. However, its attempts have been unsuccessful and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we sought to investigate the role of adipose tissue (AT) vasculature in rebound weight gain after calorie restriction in obese mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Obese mice were randomly assigned to 4 groups including mice fed HFD ad libitum (CON), mice under 40% calorie restriction for 5 weeks (CR), 3 days of HFD ad libitum after CR (CRAL), or CRAL treated with TNP-470, an angiogenesis inhibitor (TNP). We compared parameters of energy balance, AT morphometry and remodeling, and hypothalamic neuropeptides gene expression among the groups. Rebound weight gain and food intake were significantly lower and the level of brown AT UCP-1 gene expression was higher in TNP group than CRAL group. Fat mass was significantly lower in TNP group than CRAL group and it was similar to CR group while lean mass was not different between TNP and CRAL groups. Notably, the CD31-positive area was not different in AT between CON, CR, and CRAL groups, indicating that AT vasculature was maintained independently of nutritional status. However, that tended to be lower in AT of TNP group compared to other groups, implicating that inhibition of AT vasculature might be crucial to suppress rebound weight gain after calorie restriction. Consistently, circulating leptin levels were significantly lower in TNP group than CRAL group. However, the pattern of hypothalamic neuropeptides gene expression was different from the changes in food intake among the groups, suggesting an existence of novel regulatory signals independent of melanocortin system. Taken together, these results suggested a critical role of AT vasculature in regulating rebound weight gain and hyperphagia after calorie restriction independent of hypothalamic melanocortin system. Disclosure H. Lee: None. M. Song: None. N. Ha: None. B. Jin: None. S. Choi: None. D. Kim: None.