Leptin is a
hormone mainly produced by white adipose cells, and regulates body fat and food intake by acting on hypothalamus.
Leptin receptor is expressed not only in the hypothalamus but in a variety of peripheral tissues, suggesting that
leptin has pleiotropic functions. In this study, we investigated the effect of
leptin on the progression of
peritoneal fibrosis induced by
intraperitoneal injection of
chlorhexidine gluconate (CG) every other day for 2 or 3 weeks in mice. This study was conducted in male C57BL/6 mice and
leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. Peritoneal fluid, blood, and peritoneal tissues were collected 15 or 22 days after CG injection. CG injection increased the level of
leptin in serum and peritoneal fluid with thickening of submesothelial compact zone in wild type mice, but CG-injected ob/ob mice attenuate
peritoneal fibrosis, and markedly reduced the number of myofibroblasts, infiltrating macrophages, and blood vessels in the thickened submesothelial area. The 2-week
leptin administration induced a more thickened peritoneum in the CG-injected C57BL/6 mice than in the PBS group. Our results indicate that an upregulation of
leptin appears to play a role in
fibrosis and
inflammation during peritoneal injury, and reducing
leptin may be a therapeutically potential for
peritoneal fibrosis.