Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Ryan MJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4896083 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Ryan Michael J MJ Coleman T Taylor TT Sasser Jennifer M JM Pittman Katarina M KM Hankins Michael W MW Stec David E DE
American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 20160302 10
Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is associated with increased plasma levels of the adipose-derived hormone leptin. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) express leptin receptors (LepR); however, their physiological role is unclear. We hypothesized that leptin, at levels to mimic morbid obesity, impairs vascular relaxation. To test this, we used control and VSM-LepR knockout mice (VSM-LepR KO) created with a tamoxifen-inducible specific Cre recombinase to delete the LepR gene ...[more]