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. 2007 Sep 6;117(10):2778–2790. doi: 10.1172/JCI30248

Figure 7. Leptin enhances thymopoiesis in aging mice.

Figure 7

(A) Similar to ghrelin, leptin infusions in 14-month-old C57BL/6 mice significantly increased the total thymocyte number. (B) Leptin also enhanced the number of RTEs in aged (6- and 18-month-old) but not young (2-month-old) mice. Moreover, leptin but not ghrelin significantly increased the circulating levels of IGF-1 (C) and thymic KGF expression (D) in the thymus of aged mice. In contrast, ghrelin but not leptin significantly enhanced SCF (E) and inhibited TNF-α (F) mRNA expression in the aged thymus. (G) Furthermore, leptin infusion into 14-month-old BALB/c mice restored the age-related loss of cortical and medullary cellularity and the defined architecture of thymus and reduced the number of apoptotic thymocytes (H) compared with age-matched vehicle controls. Original magnification, ×10. (I) Similar to ghrelin infusion, exogenous leptin administration also increased the peripheral TCR diversity in aged (14-month-old) but not young (4-month-old) mice. *P < 0.01.