Lesions of area postrema attenuate but do not prevent anorectic action of peripheral serotonin in rats

1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (6) ◽  
pp. R1314-R1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Adipudi ◽  
K. J. Simansky

These studies assessed the effect of selectively ablating the area postrema (AP) on the action of peripheral serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] to reduce food intake in rats. Intraperitoneal 5-HT (0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 mumol/kg) reduced the intakes of sweetened mash during a 30-min test in controls (APC) and in AP-lesioned rats (APX). The anorexia was dose dependent in controls but the dose-response function was flat after AP lesions. In another study, 2.0 mumol/kg 5-HT reduced intakes of both groups by approximately 25%, but AP lesions blunted the effect at 8.0 mumol/kg 5-HT (APX, -30% vs. APC, -85%). Behavioral analysis revealed that, compared with controls, AP lesions eliminated the decrease in frequency of feeding and reduced the incidence of resting and of an aberrant posture observed after 8.0 mumol/kg. Thus peripheral 5-HT decreases food intake in rats with AP lesions. Multiple mechanisms appear to be involved in the ability of peripheral 5-HT to reduce feeding. A high dose of 5-HT promotes responses associated with satiation but also produces behavioral toxicity; these effects involve the AP. Lower doses appear to engage processes that do not rely on the function of this circumventricular organ.

1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (1) ◽  
pp. R276-R280 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Gerardo-Gettens ◽  
B. J. Moore ◽  
J. S. Stern ◽  
B. A. Horwitz

Lactation in the rat is marked by pronounced hyperphagia and suppression of brown fat (BAT) thermogenic capacity. We previously examined the possibility that elevated prolactin levels mediate these changes. The present study evaluated the effect of varying prolactin levels on food intake, BAT mitochondrial GDP binding, and carcass adiposity. Female rats were injected daily for 10 days with ovine prolactin at one of three doses: high = 3.0, medium = 1.0, or low = 0.3 micrograms/g body wt. Controls were injected with 0.9% NaCl. A group of uninjected rats served as an additional control. Cumulative food intake was significantly elevated in a dose-dependent manner in the prolactin-treated animals relative to the saline-injected and uninjected controls. Compared with the saline controls, the mean cumulative food intake was greatest at the high dose (20% increase), intermediate at the medium dose (17%), and smallest at the low dose (12%). Prolactin-treated rats gained significantly more weight during the experiment than did controls. Despite the hyperphagia in the prolactin-treated rats, no significant differences in BAT mitochondrial GDP binding were observed among the five groups. These data indicate that elevated prolactin levels stimulate food intake in a dose-dependent manner and that this hyperphagia is not accompanied by an increase in BAT mitochondrial GDP binding.


Endocrinology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 2189-2197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihong Huo ◽  
Lisa Maeng ◽  
Christian Bjørbæk ◽  
Harvey J. Grill

Leptin reduces food intake by an unspecified mechanism. Studies show that forebrain ventricular leptin delivery increases the inhibitory effects of gastrointestinal (GI) stimulation on intake and amplifies the electrophysiological response to gastric distension in neurons of the medial subnucleus of the nucleus tractus solitarius (mNTS). However, forebrain ventricular delivery leaves unspecified the neuroanatomical site(s) mediating leptin’s effect on intake. Detailed anatomical analysis in rats and mice by phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 immunohistochemistry shows that hindbrain leptin-responsive neurons are located exclusively within the mNTS. Here, we investigate 1) whether leptin and gastric distension affect the same mNTS neurons and 2) whether the intake-inhibitory action of gastric distension is potentiated by hindbrain leptin delivery. Twenty-five minutes after gastric balloon distension or sham distension, rats were injected with leptin or vehicle and killed 35 min later. Double-fluorescent immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and c-Fos revealed that about 40% of leptin-responsive cells also respond to gastric distension. A paradigm was then developed to examine the relationship between leptin and gastric distension volume on intake inhibition. At subthreshold levels, hindbrain ventricular leptin or distension volume were without effect. When combined, an interaction occurred that significantly reduced food intake. We conclude that 1) leptin-responsive neurons in the hindbrain are primarily located in the mNTS at the level of the area postrema, a key vagal afferent projection zone of the GI system; 2) a significant proportion of leptin-responsive neurons in the mNTS are activated by stomach distension; and 3) leptin delivered to the hindbrain is sufficient to potentiate the intake-suppressive effects of an otherwise ineffective volume of gastric distension. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that leptin acts directly on neurons within the mNTS to reduce food intake through an interaction with GI signal processing.


2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 762-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro A. M. Carai ◽  
Noemi Fantini ◽  
Barbara Loi ◽  
Giancarlo Colombo ◽  
Gian Luigi Gessa ◽  
...  

Previous lines of experimental evidence have suggested that Phaseolus vulgaris extracts reduce food intake, body weight, lipid accumulation, hedonic properties of food, carbohydrate absorption and metabolism, and glycaemia in rats. The present study was designed to assess the effect of multiple cycles of repeated treatments with a standardised P. vulgaris dry extract on daily food intake and body weight in genetically obese Zucker fa/fa rats (Expt 1). Additionally, the study tested the effect of acute treatment with P. vulgaris dry extract on postprandial glycaemia in Zucker fa/fa rats (Expt 2). In Expt 1, P. vulgaris dry extract was administered daily, at doses of 50 and 500 mg/kg, in three 5 d treatment periods followed by three 20 d off-treatment periods. Administration of P. vulgaris dry extract resulted in dose-dependent decreases in daily food intake and body weight in each treatment phase. Reductions in food intake were of comparable magnitude in each treatment phase. In Expt 2, food-deprived rats were acutely treated with 50 and 500 mg P. vulgaris dry extract per kg immediately before access to a fixed amount of a starch-enriched chow. Treatment with P. vulgaris dry extract resulted in a dose-dependent suppression of glycaemia. These results extend previous data on the anorectic and hypoglycaemic effects of the P. vulgaris dry extract to a validated animal model of obesity. Together with data published previously in the literature, these results strengthen the hypothesis that potentially effective, novel pharmacotherapies for obesity and related disorders may originate from extracts and derivatives of P. vulgaris.


Endocrinology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 150 (11) ◽  
pp. 4911-4919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Stengel ◽  
Miriam Goebel ◽  
Lixin Wang ◽  
Jean Rivier ◽  
Peter Kobelt ◽  
...  

Nesfatin-1, derived from nucleobindin2, is expressed in the hypothalamus and reported in one study to reduce food intake (FI) in rats. To characterize the central anorexigenic action of nesfatin-1 and whether gastric emptying (GE) is altered, we injected nesfatin-1 into the lateral brain ventricle (intracerebroventricular, icv) or fourth ventricle (4v) in chronically cannulated rats or into the cisterna magna (intracisternal, ic) under short anesthesia and compared with ip injection. Nesfatin-1 (0.05 μg/rat, icv) decreased 2–3 h and 3–6 h dark-phase FI by 87 and 45%, respectively, whereas ip administration (2 μg/rat) had no effect. The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)1/CRF2 antagonist astressin-B or the CRF2 antagonist astressin2-B abolished icv nesfatin-1’s anorexigenic action, whereas an astressin2-B analog, devoid of CRF-receptor binding affinity, did not. Nesfatin-1 icv induced a dose-dependent reduction of GE by 26 and 43% that was not modified by icv astressin2-B. Nesfatin-1 into the 4v (0.05 μg/rat) or ic (0.5 μg/rat) decreased cumulative dark-phase FI by 29 and 60% at 1 h and by 41 and 37% between 3 and 5 h, respectively. This effect was neither altered by ic astressin2-B nor associated with changes in GE. Cholecystokinin (ip) induced Fos expression in 43% of nesfatin-1 neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and 24% of those in the nucleus tractus solitarius. These data indicate that nesfatin-1 acts centrally to reduce dark phase FI through CRF2-receptor-dependent pathways after forebrain injection and CRF2-receptor-independent pathways after hindbrain injection. Activation of nesfatin-1 neurons by cholecystokinin at sites regulating food intake may suggest a role in gut peptide satiation effect.


2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (3) ◽  
pp. R983-R987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A. Scott ◽  
Timothy H. Moran

Exendin-4 (Ex4), a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, has been shown to reduce food intake and suppress gastric emptying in rodents and humans. In this study we investigated the effects of peripheral administration of Ex4 on food intake and meal patterns in adult male rhesus macaques. Rhesus macaques ( n = 4) that had been trained to lever press for food pellets were injected intramuscularly 15 min before the start of their 6-h daily feeding period. Ex4 was given at doses of 0.10, 0.32, 0.56, 1.0, and 3.0 μg/kg. Ex4 suppressed food intake in a dose-dependent manner, with the 3.0 μg/kg dose completely preventing feeding during the 6-h period and the 0.10 μg/kg dose suppressing intake by 17%. Doses of 0.32, 0.56, 1.0, and 3.0 μg/kg caused significant reductions in cumulative intake at all six hourly time points. Ex4 inhibited food intake through a specific effect on meal size. Meal size was significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner with significant reductions at the 0.32 and 1.0 μg/kg doses ( P < 0.05). Day 2 and 3intakes returned to baseline levels with no compensation for Ex4-induced feeding suppression. Administration of doses of 0.32 and 0.56 μg/kg Ex4 over 5 consecutive days led to sustained reductions in intake with no evidence of compensation. Again, these reductions were due to specific effects on meal size. These results demonstrate that activation of GLP-1 pathways has potent effects on the controls of meal size and overall food intake in a nonhuman primate model.


1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (1) ◽  
pp. R56-R62
Author(s):  
K. L. Conover ◽  
S. M. Collins ◽  
H. P. Weingarten

If gastric emptying plays a significant role in the satiety produced by exogenous cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) then 1) the effects on emptying and feeding should share similar kinetics and 2) peptides that inhibit emptying should also inhibit feeding. In the first experiment, CCK-8 (5.6 micrograms/kg) injected immediately before the introduction of an intragastric load (10 ml saline) or presentation of a test meal (15% sucrose) produced a rapid inhibition of both emptying and feeding. In contrast, the same dose administered 15 min before testing caused no inhibition of emptying, even though it retained the ability to reduce meal size. In experiment 2, the abilities of the peptides pentagastrin (100 micrograms/kg), bombesin (8 and 16 micrograms/kg), and secretin (2.86, 14.3, and 28.6 micrograms/kg) to reduce food intake and inhibit emptying were tested. Pentagastrin influenced neither food intake nor gastric emptying. Bombesin caused a small transient delay in emptying but a large and sustained eating suppression. However, a high dose of secretin caused no significant reduction of food intake, in spite of the fact that it inhibited emptying to the same degree as 1.4 micrograms/kg CCK-8, which does reduce intake. These results suggest that the inhibition of emptying by CCK is not sufficient to explain the satiety effect of CCK-8.


1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (5) ◽  
pp. R1625-R1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Sun ◽  
A. V. Ferguson

Peripheral cholecystokinin (CCK) reduces food intake and triggers the secretion of both oxytocin and corticotropin-releasing hormone. These responses are partially initiated by activation of receptors in the peripheral endings of the vagus nerve. However, in vivo studies showing that after vagotomy systemic CCK induces fos activation of neurons in the area postrema (AP) suggest that circulating CCK may directly influence the activity of neurons in this structure. The present study was therefore designed to investigate the responsiveness of AP neurons to CCK using in vitro extracellular single-unit recording techniques. Bath application of 100 nM CCK for 200 s resulted in excitatory responses in 41% and inhibitory effects in 6% of 143 AP neurons tested. Application of multiple doses of CCK (1-100 nM) to single neurons demonstrated that CCK effects were dose dependent. The firing rate of tested neurons increased by 48 +/- 15% in response to 1 nM, by 89 +/- 22% in response to 10 nM, and by 242 +/- 77% in response to 100 nM CCK. After we blockaded synaptic transmission with a low-Ca2+/high-Mg2+ artificial cerebrospinal fluid, the excitatory effects of CCK remained in all nine neurons tested. The CCK-receptor antagonist L-364,718 had no significant effect on the responses to CCK (P > 0.1, n = 4), whereas, after perfusion of slices with the CCKB-receptor antagonist L-365,260, mean responses to CCK were significantly reduced to 12.6 +/- 4.7% of the control value (P < 0.001, n = 4). These results demonstrate a direct and dose-dependent excitatory action of CCK on AP neurons that is abolished by CCKB-receptor antagonists. These data emphasize the potential role of AP in processing afferent information derived from circulating peptide concentrations that could be involved in the regulation of food intake.


2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (1) ◽  
pp. R114-R122 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Riediger ◽  
D. Zuend ◽  
C. Becskei ◽  
T. A. Lutz

Amylin is a peptide hormone that is cosecreted with insulin from the pancreas during and after food intake. Peripherally injected amylin potently inhibits feeding by acting on the area postrema (AP), a circumventricular organ lacking a functional blood-brain barrier. We recently demonstrated that AP neurons are excited by a near physiological concentration of amylin. However, the subsequent neuronal mechanisms and the relevance of endogenously released amylin for the regulation of food intake are poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated 1) amylin's contribution to feeding-induced c-Fos expression in the rat AP and its ascending projection sites, and 2) amylin's ability to reverse fasting-induced c-Fos expression in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). Similar to amylin (20 μg/kg sc), refeeding of 24-h food-deprived rats induced c-Fos expression in the AP, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the lateral parabrachial nucleus, and the central nucleus of the amygdala. In AP-lesioned rats, the amylin-induced c-Fos expression in each of these sites was blunted, indicating an AP-mediated activation of these structures. Pretreatment with the amylin antagonist AC-187 (1 mg/kg sc) inhibited feeding-induced c-Fos expression in the AP. Food deprivation activated LHA neurons, a response known to be associated with hunger. This effect was reversed within 2 h after refeeding and also in nonrefed animals that received amylin. In summary, our data provide the first evidence that feeding-induced amylin release activates AP neurons projecting to subsequent relay stations known to transmit meal-related signals to the forebrain. Activation of this pathway seems to coincide with an inhibition of LHA neurons.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiufen Mo ◽  
Aikun Fu ◽  
Lingli Deng ◽  
Minjie Zhao ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
...  

Glycerol monolaurate (GML) has potent antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. The present study aimed to assess the dose-dependent antimicrobial-effects of GML on the gut microbiota, glucose and lipid metabolism and inflammatory response in C57BL/6 mice. Mice were fed on diets supplemented with GML at dose of 400, 800 and 1600 mg kg−1 for 4 months, respectively. Results showed that supplementation of GML, regardless of the dosages, induced modest body weight gain without affecting epididymal/brown fat pad, lipid profiles and glycemic markers. A high dose of GML (1600 mg kg−1) showed positive impacts on the anti-inflammatory TGF-β1 and IL-22. GML modulated the indigenous microbiota in a dose-dependent manner. It was found that 400 and 800 mg kg−1 GML improved the richness of Barnesiella, whereas a high dosage of GML (1600 mg kg−1) significantly increased the relative abundances of Clostridium XIVa, Oscillibacter and Parasutterella. The present work indicated that GML could upregulate the favorable microbial taxa without inducing systemic inflammation and dysfunction of glucose and lipid metabolism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. Ryan ◽  
Kevin R. Bewley ◽  
Susan A. Fotheringham ◽  
Gillian S. Slack ◽  
Phillip Brown ◽  
...  

AbstractThere is a vital need for authentic COVID-19 animal models to enable the pre-clinical evaluation of candidate vaccines and therapeutics. Here we report a dose titration study of SARS-CoV-2 in the ferret model. After a high (5 × 106 pfu) and medium (5 × 104 pfu) dose of virus is delivered, intranasally, viral RNA shedding in the upper respiratory tract (URT) is observed in 6/6 animals, however, only 1/6 ferrets show similar signs after low dose (5 × 102 pfu) challenge. Following sequential culls pathological signs of mild multifocal bronchopneumonia in approximately 5–15% of the lung is seen on day 3, in high and medium dosed groups. Ferrets re-challenged, after virus shedding ceased, are fully protected from acute lung pathology. The endpoints of URT viral RNA replication & distinct lung pathology are observed most consistently in the high dose group. This ferret model of SARS-CoV-2 infection presents a mild clinical disease.


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