Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of neuropeptide Y (NPY) has been shown to decrease energy expenditure, induce hypothermia, and stimulate food intake. Recent evidence has suggested that the Y5 receptor may be a significant mediator of NPY-stimulated feeding. The present study attempts to further characterize the role of NPY Y5-receptor subtypes in feeding and energy expenditure regu...

The effect of intracerebroventricular (ICV) perfusion of bombesin (BBS) on the interdigestive migrating myoelectric complex (MMC) actvity was examined in conscious dogs with electrodes implanted on the stomach and small intestine. Cannulas and a catheter were chronically positioned in the lateral and fourth cerebral ventricles, respectively. ICV perfusion of BBS, which failed to increase plasma...

Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone II (GnRH II), which plays a crucial role in the regulation of reproduction in vertebrates, markedly reduces food intake in goldfish. However, the neurochemical pathways involved in the anorexigenic action of GnRH II and its interaction with other neuropeptides have not yet been identified. Alpha-melanocyte-stimulatin...

Aldosterone acts upon mineralocorticoid receptors in the brain to increase blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity, but the mechanisms are still poorly understood. We hypothesized that aldosterone increases sympathetic nerve activity by upregulating the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and oxidative stress in the brain, as it does in peripheral tissues. In Sprague-Dawley rats, aldosterone (...

We previously reported the existence of a descending multisynaptic, pituitary-independent, neural pathway between the hypothalamus and the testes in the male rat. Stimulation of this pathway by the intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of IL-1beta or corticotropin-releasing factor blunts the testosterone (T) response to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This response is mediated at least in...

AIMS Alcohol can directly impair protein synthesis in cultured myocytes as well as in in situ perfused skeletal muscle. However, alcohol in the general circulation diffuses rapidly into the central nervous system (CNS). Therefore, this study determined whether localized elevation of alcohol within the CNS is capable of decreasing muscle protein synthesis. METHODS Conscious unstrained male rat...

BACKGROUND Acyl ghrelin-induced intake depends on hypothalamic neuropeptide Y and agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurotransmitters. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of AgRP increases feeding through competitive antagonism at melanocortin receptors. ICV administration of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), a natural antagonist of AgRP, may modulate the acyl ghrelin-induced orexigenic...

The gastrointestinal system may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of insulin-resistant brain state (IRBS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Gastrointestinal hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is being explored as a potential therapy activation GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1R) exerts neuroprotection controls peripheral metabolism. Intracerebroventricular administration streptozotocin (STZ-icv) used t...

It is arguable that the instinct for survival in animal species has evolved due to the evolutionary elimination of those individuals who did not have enough inclination nor desire to cluster in a team. Thus, the roots of ethical conduct in its many facets in today’s world, may be sought in this very primeval concern for the society that enabled communities, rather than individuals, to survive i...

Fourth intracerebroventricular (4th-icv) administration of the melanocortin-3/4 receptor (MC3/4-R) agonist, MTII, reduces food intake; the antagonist, SHU9119, increases feeding. The dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMX) contains the highest density of MC4-R messenger RNA in the brain. To explore the possibility that the DMX contributes to 4th-icv MC4-R effects, we delivered doses of MT...