Figure 4: Central administration and hypothalamic viral overexpression of CX3CL1 limits HFD-induced weight gain in males.

(a,b) Body-weight gain (a) and cumulative food intake (b) in HFD-fed Cx3cr1 KO and HT male mice infused ICV with CX3CL1 (500 ng per day) over 12 days. F(11,154)=3.14, P=0.0008 for genotype × time interaction using repeated measures ANOVA. Mean±s.e.m., n=6–10 per group. (c,d) Representative images showing Iba1 immunoreactivity in the MBH of KO (c) and HT male mice (d) centrally treated with CX3CL1 for 12 days. Scale bar, 50 μm. (e) Quantification of Iba1-positive cells in bilateral MBH from six sections per animal. Mean±s.e.m., n=4 per group. (f) Body-weight change in 3-month DIO WT males injected ICV daily with CX3CL1 (1 μg per day) or vehicle (saline) over 28 days. (g) Total fat mass measured 2 days before and after 3 weeks of ICV injections (day 22). (h) Cumulative food intake measured over 28 days of ICV vehicle or CX3CL1 treatment. Mean±s.e.m. of eight animals per group in (f–h). (i,j) Representative images of the MBH from mice injected unilaterally for validation with AAV-GFP (i) or AAV-CX3CR1-HA (j). Scale bar, 50 μm. (k,l) Body-weight gain (k) and cumulative food intake (l) in HFD-fed mice injected bilaterally in the MBH with AAV-GFP or AAV-CX3CL1-HA. Mean±s.e.m. of nine animals per group. For a,f,k data are analysed by repeated measures ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc comparisons. *P<0.05, **P<0.01. ***P<0.001.