Furthermore, a study by Musatov et al [45] demonstrated that viral vector–mediated ERα gene silencing in the VMN both of female mice and rats largely recapitulates a metabolic phenotype observed in whole-body ERαKO mice, including obesity, hyperphagia, impaired glucose tolerance, and reduced energy expenditure [49-51]. Here, ESR1 is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.