TABLE 4.

Brain leptin receptor (Ob-Rb) expression in brain structures of Swiss mice during the persistent stage of infection (5 months p.i.)^a

Mouse type	Expression (%) in:
	Cortex	Hippocampus	Hypothalamus
Sham	31	45	84
Infected lean	39	47	75
Infected lean	39	49	71
Infected obese	54	71	56
Obese/sham (%)	174	157	67

^aRT-PCR was carried out by coamplification of Ob-Rb and GAPDH. The products were loaded and then transferred (Southern blotting) and hybridized with a specific radiolabeled internal probe. The labeling of amplicons was quantified by image analysis (NIH Image software), and Ob-Rb was expressed as relative units of Ob-Rb–GAPDH (normalized values). Modulation of Ob-Rb corresponds to the expression in brain structures of infected mice compared to that in the matched structures of sham-inoculated mice (as a percentage) and indicates a downregulation of Ob-Rb in the hypothalamus of the obese mouse, whereas its expression increases in the other brain structures. The data are representative of two sham-inoculated mice (pooled structures), two separate infected lean mice, and one obese mouse.