Hydrodynamic delivery of interleukin 15 gene promotes resistance to high fat diet-induced obesity, fatty liver and improves glucose homeostasis.

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of hydrodynamic delivery of plasmid containing Il-15 gene on high fat diet-induced obesity and obesity-associated metabolic disorders. We demonstrate that Il-15 gene transfer results in multiple beneficial effects, including blockade of weight gain, alleviation of fatty liver and improvement in glucose homeostasis in mice. These effects are accompanied by suppressed expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and gluconeogenesis including Scd-1, Fas, Pdk4, Pepck and G6p, and enhanced expression of genes responsible for lipolysis and glucose metabolism such as Cpt1-α, Cpt1-β, Acadm, Acadl and Glut-4. Collectively, our results suggest that Il-15 gene transfer is an effective approach in preventing diet-induced obesity and obesity-associated complications.