Real-time reverse-transcriptase Staurosporine purchase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed, as described previously,23 in a 96-well plate using a Bio-Rad iCycler iQ. The sequences of forward and reverse primers used for amplification are represented in Table 1. For each gene, a standard curve was established from four cDNA dilutions (1/10 to 1/10,000) and was used to determine relative gene-expression variation after normalization, with a geometric average of 18S and TATA box-binding protein expression. Results are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance,

followed by the Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Concordant arguments from in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that hepatic expression of CB1R is submitted to an autoregulation process. HM781-36B cell line Activation of ECS by high-fat diets or by agonists is associated with an increase in the expression of CB1R, whereas this effect is prevented by the simultaneous use of CB1R antagonist.13, 16, 17, 24, 25 So, in this study, the effect of each treatment on the activation status of the ECS was estimated by measuring the mRNA expression of CB1R. Treating liver explants from lean mice with SR141716 at 100 nM induced a strong down-regulation of CB1R expression, whereas AEA treatment increased CB1R mRNA, in comparison

with controls. When both molecules were simultaneously added in the culture medium, the stimulating effect of AEA was limited by the presence of SR141716 (Fig. 1A). In ob/ob mice that displayed markedly higher mRNA levels of CB1R than lean mice (Fig. 1B), SR141716 also decreased CB1R expression at 10 μM in the presence of AEA or not (Fig. 1C), whereas it was inefficient at 100 nM (data not shown). On the whole, these data support the effectiveness of SR141716 treatment in modulating ECS activity in our model.

The effect of CB1R antagonism on substrate utilization was analyzed by oxygen-consumption measurement. In this approach, because carbohydrate catabolism uses less oxygen than FA, low oxygen-consumption rates indicate reliance on carbohydrate oxidation as the major energy substrate. Thus, oxygen-consumption rates were the lowest when selleck chemical control explants were preincubated in a media promoting carbohydrate utilization (Fig. 2, empty column 2). Conversely, when control explants were preincubated in a media promoting FA utilization (Fig. 2, empty column 3), respiration rates were unchanged, suggesting that FAs were the preferential substrate for liver explants at the end of the 21-hour culture period. Interestingly, treating liver explants with SR141716 induced a marked decrease in oxygen consumption (Fig. 2, black column 1), in comparison with control, suggesting a change in substrate oxidation in favor of carbohydrate. In line with this hypothesis, respiration rates remained low when carbohydrate metabolism was strained (Fig.