Central injections of the GABA-transaminase inhibitor ethanolamine-O-sulfate (EOS): effects on brain [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake and behavior in rats

Mapping GABAergic projections that mediate feeding

Neuroscience offers important insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity by investigating neural circuits underpinning appetite and feeding. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), one of the most abundant neurotransmitters in the brain, and its associated receptors represent an array of pharmacologically targetable mediators of appetite signalling. Targeting the GABAergic system is therefore an increasingly investigated approach to obesity treatment. However, the many GABAergic projections that control feeding have yet to be collectively analysed. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between GABAergic signalling and appetite by examining both foundational studies and the results of newly emerging chemogenetic/optogenetic experiments. A current snapshot of these efforts to map GABAergic projections influencing appetite is provided, and potential avenues for further investigation are provided.

The open field as a paradigm to measure the effects of drugs on anxiety-like behaviors: a review

The open field is a very popular animal model of anxiety-like behavior. An overview of the literature on the action elicited by effective or putative anxiolytics in animal subjected to this procedure indicates that classical treatments such as benzodiazepine receptor full agonists or 5-HT(1A) receptor full or partial agonists elicit an anxiolytic-like effect in this procedure in most cases (approximately 2/3). However, compounds (triazolobenzodiazepines such as adinazolam and alprazolam, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) that have a different spectrum of therapeutic efficacy in anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder were poorly effective as anxiolytics in the open field test, suggesting that this paradigm may not model features of anxiety disorders. The procedure is also relevant for the study of compounds endowed with anxiogenic effects, as such effects were detected after treatments with benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonists or with corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) receptor agonists.

GABAA receptors in the amygdala: role in feeding in fasted and satiated rats

The purpose of this study was to clarify further the site of action in the amygdala as well as functional characteristics of feeding in response to two GABA receptor agonists. Guide cannulae for microinjection were implanted stereotaxically in the rat just above the central nucleus of the amygdala (CNA). Microinjections of 0.05, 0.25, 0.5 or 1.0 nmol muscimol, a GABAA-selective receptor agonist, produced a dose- and time-dependent decrease of food intake in both the satiated and fasted rat. The bilateral injection of muscimol into the amygdala was more effective than a unilateral injection during the first 2 h, although the overall effects were similar. Microinjection of 0.1 nmol bicuculline methiodide, a GABAA receptor antagonist, into the CNA significantly blocked this inhibitory effect of 0.05 and 0.5 nmol muscimol again in both the satiated and fasted rat. Doses of 0.05, 0.5, 5.0 and 10.0 nmol of the selective GABAB agonist, baclofen, injected into homologous sites in the CNA did not alter food intake. These findings support the viewpoint that the amygdala and its central nucleus comprise a pivotal region involved in the mechanisms underlying the control of feeding behavior. Further, it is envisaged that hypophagic or anorexic responses are induced through the activation of GABAA receptors by the presynaptic release of GABA from neurons which form a component of the anatomical system for hunger and satiety.

The behavioural effects of chronic elevation of rat brain GABA by ethanolamine O-sulphate

This study examined the functional effects of long-term elevated brain GABA concentrations. The increase in GABA was achieved by use of the GABA-aminotransferase (GABA-T) inhibitor, ethanolamine O-sulphate (EOS). Forms of exploratory behaviour pre viously demonstrated to be sensitive to GABAergic receptor stimulation were measured over a 4 week period of EOS treatment. The most pronounced behavioural effect was an increased duration of investigating behaviour following 2-21 days of EOS treatment. This effect was accompanied by an accumulation of GABA in the substantia nigra and the corpus striatum. After 28-30 days of EOS treatment the GABA concentration was still significantly elevated, whereas the investigating behaviour was no longer different from controls.

Effects of lateral hypothalamic lesions on the anorexia induced by ethanolamine-O-sulfate

Intracisternal (IC) injection of the GABA-transaminase inhibitor, ethanolamine-O-sulfate (EOS), has been previously shown to induce dose-dependent anorexia in normal rats as well as to reverse overeating in several rodent models of acute and chronic hyperphagia. To determine if such anorexia might be mediated by cells within or fibers of passage which traverse the lateral hypothalamus (LH), adult female rats received bilateral radiofrequency heat lesions of the LH vs. anesthesia control injections and were allowed to recover normal feeding and drinking responses. Using a longitudinal design, all animals then received 100, 0, and 200 micrograms EOS in 20 microliters deionized water IC with 1 week separating each injection. In addition to daily measures of feeding, drinking and body weight, all animals were screened 24 hr after injections for sensorimotor competence and general health by testing open-field activity, catalepsy, paw-lick responses on a hot-plate and rectal temperature. As reported previously, IC EOS induced dose-dependent hypophagia and weight loss. However, the magnitude and duration of these effects were equivalent in lesioned and control rats. In addition, open-field activity and body temperature were reliably lowered as a function of dosage while catalepsy was increased. Again, this effect was equivalent in lesioned and control rats. Subsequent tests of drinking and feeding in response to hyperosmotic and hypoglycemic challenges, respectively, confirmed that lesioned rats were deficient compared to controls. These findings suggest that an intact LH axis is not required for the anorexigenic effects of IC EOS.

GABA and feeding: reversal of overeating by central GABA-transaminase inhibition

Past literature is reviewed briefly which suggests that variations in brain GABA metabolism may be involved in the control of food intake in rats. Recent experiments from the author's laboratory are summarized in which brain GABA has been elevated in adult female rats by intracisternal injection of the GABA-transaminase inhibitor, ethanolamine-O-sulfate (EOS). Central EOS pretreatment produced dose-dependent anorexia in normal subjects and prevented acute overeating in response to systemic insulin (12 U/kg) or 2-deoxyglucose (750 mg/kg). Similar EOS pretreatment essentially reversed the chronic overeating induced by diet palatability, bilateral medial hypothalamic lesions or genetic predisposition (in Zucker fatty rats). The ubiquity of these anorexic effects in the absence of clear motor debilitation suggests that drugs which elevate brain GABA deserve further investigation for their potential utility in the clinical treatment of overeating.