Cyp1b1 also influences the vasculature. Deficient expression in endothelia and associated pericytes disrupts capillary assembly in vitro and vasculogenesis in vivo through increased oxidative signaling [8–9, 18–19]. Liver stellate cells are specialized pericytes [74], positioned in the sinusoids between endothelia and hepatocytes, adjacent to sympathetic nerve terminals [75]. Endothelial-pericyte interactions are crucial to the blood-brain barrier, which controls leptin transfer to the hypothalamus [76–77]. The unexpected correlation of increased leptin clearance and enhanced hypothalamic activity in Cyp1b1-ko mice can be explained by such changes. These potential influences of Cyp1b1 deletion on the metabolic parameters are summarized in Figure 9.
