Figure 3.

EAT gene transfer reduces body weight and improves fatty liver in C57BL/6 mice with diet-induced obesity. Obese mice were kept on high-fat diet and hydrodynamically injected with 20 µg of either pEAT or pLIVE empty plasmid (control). Animal body weight was monitored continuously for 21 days, at which time animals were sacrificed for tissue collection and histological and biochemical analysis. (A) Effect of gene transfer on body weight. (B) Representative images of mice at the end of experiment. (C) Comparative body composition of animals with pEAT or control plasmid transfer. (D) Average daily food intake. (E) Representative images of H&E staining of WAT and BAT sections; Scale bar = 50 μm. (F) mRNA levels of key genes responsible for chronic inflammation in WAT. (G) Circulating levels of TNFα and IL6. (H) Expression levels of genes controlling adaptive thermogenesis in brown fat. (I) Representative images of the liver and liver tissue sections stained by H&E and Oil red O; Bar = 1 cm for gross image; Scale bar = 50 μm for tissue sections. (J) Relative level of triglyceride in the livers. (K) Transcription levels of pivotal genes responsible for lipogenesis, lipid droplet formation, and inflammation in the liver. Values in (A,C,D,F–H,J,K) represent average ± SD (n = 5). *P < 0.05 compared with the control; **P < 0.01 compared with the control.