Ciliary neurotrophic factor curbs palmitate-induced inflammatory and metabolic changes in NPY/AgRP hypothalamic neurons

Introduction: In both humans and experimental animals, obesity is associated with hypothalamic inflammation and neuronal metabolic dysfunction, which contribute to disrupting body energy homeostasis. Although ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a neuroprotective cytokine with recognized anti-obesity effects in peripheral metabolic tissues, its role in obesity-associated hypothalamic dysfunction is still poorly characterized. We investigated whether CNTF exerts any direct effects on mHypoE-N41 (N41) hypothalamic neurons and whether it modulates the effects induced by palmitate (PA), an established model of obesity-associated neuronal metabolic dysfunction. Methods: N41 cells were administered CNTF alone or combined with PA to assess whether CNTF affects PA-induced lipotoxic stress. Gene and protein expression was assessed by qRT-PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence analysis. Results: In N41 cells, CNTF activated the STAT3, ERK and AMPK signaling pathways. It also upregulated genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism and fatty acid oxidation, including Ucp2, Cpt1 and Pgc1, as well as the proliferation-associated markers Ki-67 and PCNA. PA treatment induced inflammatory and endoplasmic reticulum stress responses and impaired insulin signaling. In PA-treated N41 cells, CNTF significantly attenuated the expression of pro-inflammatory markers Tnf, Mcp1 and Nfkb, restored insulin-induced AKT phosphorylation, and partially reversed PA-induced changes in the expression of metabolic genes Ucp2 and Cpt1. Conclusions: Collectively, these findings indicate that CNTF exerts direct protective metabolic effects on hypothalamic N41 neurons subjected to lipotoxic stress and supports a role for it in the preservation of neuronal metabolic function under obesogenic conditions.