Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39934931›Full record

ArticleClinical epigenetics2025

Sex-specific role of epigenetic modification of a leptin upstream enhancer in adipose tissue.

Luise Müller, Rebecca Oelkrug, Jens Mittag, Anne Hoffmann, Adhideb Ghosh, Falko Noé, Christian Wolfrum, Esther Guiu Jurado, Nora Klöting, Arne Dietrich and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical epigenetics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Luise MüllerMedical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Rebecca OelkrugInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology - Center of Brain Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany.
Jens MittagInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology - Center of Brain Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany.
Anne HoffmannHelmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, Phillip-Rosenthal Str. 27, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Adhideb GhoshInstitute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, 8092, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland.
Falko NoéInstitute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, 8092, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland.
Christian WolfrumInstitute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, 8092, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland.
Esther Guiu JuradoMedical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Nora KlötingHelmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, Phillip-Rosenthal Str. 27, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Arne DietrichDepartment of Visceral, Transplantation, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Section of Bariatric Surgery, University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Matthias BlüherMedical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Peter KovacsMedical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Kerstin KrauseMedical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Maria KellerMedical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. Maria.Keller@helmholtz-munich.de.

Funding

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung 01EO1501Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 209933838Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 434396546Deutsches Zentrum für Diabetesforschung 82DZD06D03
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveMaternal hormonal status can have long-term effects on offspring metabolic health and is likely regulated via epigenetic mechanisms. We elucidated the effects of maternal thyroid hormones on the epigenetic regulation of leptin (Lep) transcription in adipose tissue (AT) and subsequently investigated the role of DNA methylation at a Lep upstream enhancer (UE) in adipocyte biology.

resultsPregnant mice treated with triiodothyronine (T3) produced offspring with reduced body weight, total fat mass, and gonadal white adipose tissue (gWAT) mass at 6 months of age (treatment: N = 8; control: N = 12). Compared with control offspring, exclusively female offspring of T3-treated mothers presented lower Lep mRNA levels and higher Lep UE methylation in gWAT. In murine preadipocytes, targeted demethylation of the Lep UE via a dCas9-SunTag-TET1 system reduced methylation by ~ 20%, but this effect was insufficient to alter Lep expression or lipid accumulation after differentiation. In human omental visceral AT (OVAT) samples from the Leipzig Obesity BioBank (LOBB, N = 52), LEP UE methylation was associated with body fat percentage, and mediation analysis indicated that leptin serum levels partially mediate this association exclusively in females.

conclusionFindings from the animal model suggest that maternal thyroid hormones influence offspring gWAT Lep expression in a sex-specific manner, potentially through changes in Lep UE methylation. However, in vitro experiments indicate that Lep UE methylation alone is not sufficient to regulate Lep expression or adipocyte lipid accumulation. In humans with obesity, LEP UE methylation is associated with body fat percentage, with leptin serum levels potentially acting as a mediator exclusively in females.

Indexed as

Adipose TissueDNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticLeptinAdipocytesAnimalsEnhancer Elements, GeneticFemaleHumansMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLPregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsSex FactorsTriiodothyronineLeptinTriiodothyronineAdipose tissueBody fatDNA methylationEpigenetic editingLeptin upstream enhancerMaternal thyroid hormonesSex specific

Identifiers

PMID39934931
PMCPMC11816557

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.