Leptin increases the expression of tumour promoter genes and decreases the expression of tumour suppressor genes in stomach of female Sprague-Dawley rats

Faizatul Isyraqiah^1,*,
Methil Kannan Kutty² and
Harbindar Jeet Singh^3,4

Gastroenterology & Hepatology Research 2021;3(1):3

doi: 10.53388/ghr2021-03-029

Published online: March 12, 2021

Author information

Citation: Isyraqiah F, Kutty MK, Singh HJ. Leptin increases the expression of tumour promoter genes and decreases the expression of tumour suppressor genes in stomach of female Sprague-Dawley rats. Gastroenterol & Hepatol Res. 2021;3(1):3. doi: 10.53388/ghr2021-03-029.

Abstract

Background

Epidemiologic studies indicate that the incidence of gastric cancer is lower in females than in males. However, a few reports have found no difference in the relative risk of gastric cancer in obese females compared to obese males. Our recent studies found that leptin promotes tumor growth in the stomach of male Sprague-Dawley rats. It is, however, unknown if leptin can also equally induce gastric tumorigenesis in female rats. This study therefore examined the effects of leptin on tumor development in stomachs of female Sprague-Dawley rats.

Methodology

Female Sprague-Dawley rats aged 6 weeks were divided into 2 groups; leptin group that was given daily intraperitoneal injections of leptin at a dose of 60 µg/kg for 40 weeks (n=8) and a control group that was given daily intraperitoneal injections of an equal volume of normal saline (n=8). Body weights were measured weekly. After 40 weeks, the rats were euthanised and their stomachs collected for histopathological examination and gene analysis. Nine target genes commonly involved in tumorigenesis were selected for RT-PCR, which included APC, ARID1A, E-Cadherin, FAT4, L-Myc, PGC, PPARG, TFF1, and TFF2. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA.

Results

No macroscopic or microscopic changes were found in the stomach of leptin-treated rats. However, gene analysis revealed significant decrease in tumour suppressor genes like ARID1A, E-cadherin, APC, TFF1, and PPARG, but not FAT4. Tumour promoter genes L-Myc and TFF2 were both significantly upregulated in leptin-treated rats. In situ expression of PGC, which is a negative marker for gastric cancer, was found decreased considerably as well. No significant differences in body weight were found between control and leptin-treated rats.

Conclusion

The evident down regulation of some tumour suppressor genes and up-regulation of some tumour promoter genes in leptin-treated rats seem to indicate a tumorigenic potential of leptin in female rats as well, although it may not be as profound as reported in male Sprague-Dawley rats.

Keywords

leptin, gastric cancer, tumour suppressor, tumour promoter

Copyright © 2025 Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

About this Article

Cite this article

Isyraqiah F, Kutty MK, Singh HJ. Leptin increases the expression of tumour promoter genes and decreases the expression of tumour suppressor genes in stomach of female Sprague-Dawley rats. Gastroenterol & Hepatol Res. 2021;3(1):3. doi: 10.53388/ghr2021-03-029.

Copy

Export to RIS

Export to EndNote

Article History

Received	Revised	Accepted	Published
			March 12, 2021

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.53388/ghr2021-03-029

683 Article Accesses	Citation counts are provided from Dimensions. The counts may vary by service, and are reliant on the availability of their data. Counts will update daily once available.
296 PDF Download