Melatonin receptor 1 signaling protects female mice from the negative effects of high fat diet by modulating estrogen signaling

Recent studies have also reported melatonin signaling via its G-protein coupled receptors (namely MT1 and MT2), affects glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and blood lipids levels. However, most of these studies have been conducted with melatonin-deficient male mice.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of a low-fat diet (LFD) and high-fat diet (HFD) on liver biology and transcriptome using melatonin-proficient female mice (C3H-f+/+) and MT1 knockout mice. Our results demonstrate that MT1 deletion alone does not cause notable changes in weight, lipid profile or hepatic lipid accumulation, whereas the combination of MT1 deficiency and HFD exposure result in significant changes in glucose tolerance, serum lipids profiles and lipids accumulation in the liver.