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Ghrelin rescues skeletal muscle catabolic profile in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease

Sjögren, Marie LU ; Duarte, Ana I. LU ; McCourt, Andrew C ; Shcherbina, Liliya LU ; Wierup, Nils LU and Björkqvist, Maria LU orcid (2017) In Scientific Reports 7(1).
Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests altered energy metabolism as a key feature in Huntington's disease (HD) pathology. Hyper-catabolism, including weight loss and muscle atrophy, is seen in HD patients and HD mouse models. Metabolic hormones are key players, not only in energy metabolism, but also in neurodegenerative processes. Ghrelin, a gut peptide-hormone, plays an important role in regulating energy metabolism, stimulating appetite, and affects brain function and increases neuronal survival. The R6/2 mouse model of HD has previously been shown to exhibit progressive weight loss, dysregulated glucose metabolism, skeletal muscle atrophy and altered body composition. In this study, we targeted energy metabolism in R6/2 mice using ghrelin... (More)

Accumulating evidence suggests altered energy metabolism as a key feature in Huntington's disease (HD) pathology. Hyper-catabolism, including weight loss and muscle atrophy, is seen in HD patients and HD mouse models. Metabolic hormones are key players, not only in energy metabolism, but also in neurodegenerative processes. Ghrelin, a gut peptide-hormone, plays an important role in regulating energy metabolism, stimulating appetite, and affects brain function and increases neuronal survival. The R6/2 mouse model of HD has previously been shown to exhibit progressive weight loss, dysregulated glucose metabolism, skeletal muscle atrophy and altered body composition. In this study, we targeted energy metabolism in R6/2 mice using ghrelin administration, with the primary aim to delay weight loss and reduce muscle atrophy. We also evaluated glucose metabolism and behaviour. We here demonstrate that ghrelin administration (subcutaneous 150 μg/kg daily injections) for 4 weeks, reversed the catabolic gene expression profile (increased expression of Caspase 8, Traf-5 and Creb1) seen in R6/2 mouse skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle morphology was also improved with ghrelin, and importantly, ghrelin administration normalized behavioural deficits in R6/2 mice. Taken together, our findings encourage further studies targeting metabolism in HD.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
7
issue
1
article number
13896
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85032187969
  • pmid:29066728
  • wos:000413597800013
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-017-13713-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2e8bc979-32ce-4b40-8e85-c8d99bbdaf88
date added to LUP
2017-11-07 11:14:09
date last changed
2024-11-11 19:27:48
@article{2e8bc979-32ce-4b40-8e85-c8d99bbdaf88,
  abstract     = {{<p>Accumulating evidence suggests altered energy metabolism as a key feature in Huntington's disease (HD) pathology. Hyper-catabolism, including weight loss and muscle atrophy, is seen in HD patients and HD mouse models. Metabolic hormones are key players, not only in energy metabolism, but also in neurodegenerative processes. Ghrelin, a gut peptide-hormone, plays an important role in regulating energy metabolism, stimulating appetite, and affects brain function and increases neuronal survival. The R6/2 mouse model of HD has previously been shown to exhibit progressive weight loss, dysregulated glucose metabolism, skeletal muscle atrophy and altered body composition. In this study, we targeted energy metabolism in R6/2 mice using ghrelin administration, with the primary aim to delay weight loss and reduce muscle atrophy. We also evaluated glucose metabolism and behaviour. We here demonstrate that ghrelin administration (subcutaneous 150 μg/kg daily injections) for 4 weeks, reversed the catabolic gene expression profile (increased expression of Caspase 8, Traf-5 and Creb1) seen in R6/2 mouse skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle morphology was also improved with ghrelin, and importantly, ghrelin administration normalized behavioural deficits in R6/2 mice. Taken together, our findings encourage further studies targeting metabolism in HD.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sjögren, Marie and Duarte, Ana I. and McCourt, Andrew C and Shcherbina, Liliya and Wierup, Nils and Björkqvist, Maria}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Ghrelin rescues skeletal muscle catabolic profile in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13713-5}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-017-13713-5}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}