Hypothalamus transcriptome profile suggests an anorexia-cachexia syndrome in anx/anx mouse model. Mus musculus

The anx/anx mouse displays poor appetite and lean appearance and is considered a good model for the study of anorexia nervosa. To identify new genes involved in feeding behavior and body weight regulation we performed an expression profiling in the hypothalamus of the anx/anx mice. Using commercial microarrays we detected 156 differentially expressed genes and validated 92 of those using TaqMan low-density arrays. Our results showed an enrichment of deregulated genes involved in cell death, cell morphology and cancer as well as an alteration of several signaling circuits involved in energy balance including neuropeptide Y and melanocortin signaling. The expression profile along with the phenotype let us to conclude that anx/anx mice resemble the anorexia-cachexia syndrome typically observed in cancer, infection with human immunodeficiency virus or chronic diseases rather than starvation, and that anx/anx mice could be considered a good model for the treatment and investigation of this condition. Keywords: genetic mutation analysis Overall design: Total RNA expression profile comparison between 3 pairs of anx/anx mice and wild type littermates in brain hypothalamus and neocortex