The effect of hypothalamic peptide YY on hippocampal acetylcholine release in vivo: implications for limbic function in binge-eating behavior

Peptide YY signaling in the lateral parabrachial nucleus increases food intake through the Y1 receptor

Although central PYY delivery potently increases food intake, the sites of action and mechanisms mediating these hyperphagic effects are not fully understood. The present studies investigate the contribution of lateral parabrachial nucleus (lPBN) PYY-Y receptor signaling to food intake control, as lPBN neurons express Y receptors and receive PYY fibers and are known to integrate circulating and visceral sensory signals to regulate energy balance. Immunohistochemical results identified a subpopulation of gigantocellular reticular nucleus PYY-producing neurons that project monosynaptically to the lPBN, providing an endogenous source of PYY to the lPBN. lPBN microinjection of PYY-(1-36) or PYY-(3-36) markedly increased food intake by increasing meal size. To determine which receptors mediate these behavioral results, we first performed quantitative real-time PCR to examine the relative levels of Y receptor expression in lPBN tissue. Gene expression analyses revealed that, while Y1, Y2, and Y5 receptors are each expressed in lPBN tissue, Y1 receptor mRNA is expressed at fivefold higher levels than the others. Furthermore, behavioral/pharmacological results demonstrated that the hyperphagic effects of PYY-(3-36) were eliminated by lPBN pretreatment with a selective Y1 receptor antagonist. Together, these results highlight the lPBN as a novel site of action for the intake-stimulatory effects of central PYY-Y1 receptor signaling.

The role of peptide YY in appetite regulation and obesity

The last decade has witnessed a marked increase in our understanding of the importance of gut hormones in the regulation of energy homeostasis. In particular, the discovery that the gut hormone peptide YY 3-36 (PYY3-36) reduced feeding in obese rodents and humans fuelled interest in the role of PYY3-36 in body weight regulation. Pharmacological and genetic approaches have revealed that the Y2-receptor mediates the anorectic effects of PYY3-36 whilst mechanistic studies in rodents identified the hypothalamus, vagus and brainstem regions as potential sites of action. More recently, using functional brain imaging techniques in humans, PYY3-36 was found to modulate neuronal activity within hypothalamic and brainstem, and brain regions involved in reward processing. Several lines of evidence suggest that low circulating PYY concentrations predispose towards the development and or maintenance of obesity. Subjects with reduced postprandial PYY release exhibit lower satiety and circulating PYY levels that correlate negatively with markers of adiposity. In addition, mice lacking PYY are hyperphagic and become obese. Conversely, chronic PYY3-36 administration to obese rodents reduces adiposity, and transgenic mice with increased circulating PYY are resistant to diet-induced obesity. Moreover, there is emerging evidence that PYY3-36 may partly mediate the reduced appetite and weight loss benefits observed post-gastric bypass surgery. Taken together these findings, coupled with the retained responsiveness of obese subjects to the effects of PYY3-36, suggest that targeting the PYY system may offer a therapeutic strategy to help treat obesity.

Gastrointestinal peptides controlling body weight homeostasis

Obesity has become an international public health problem. Unfortunately, effective treatment options are limited. In the last 20 years, research in obesity and associated pathologies has derived in a significant increase in the knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanism regulating body mass, such as gastrointestinal-neuroendocrine communications. Gut-brain peptides may provide attractive therapeutic targets against this disease. This review summarizes research into energy balance through gastrointestinal tract peptides. Understanding these molecular mechanisms will provide new pharmacological targets for the treatment of obesity and appetite disorders.

Peripheral tissue-brain interactions in the regulation of food intake

More than 70 years ago the glucostatic, lipostatic and aminostatic hypotheses proposed that the central nervous system sensed circulating levels of different metabolites, changing feeding behaviour in response to the levels of those molecules. In the last 20 years the rapid increase in obesity and associated pathologies in developed countries has involved a substantial increase in the knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanism regulating body mass. This effort has resulted in the recent discovery of new peripheral signals, such as leptin and ghrelin, as well as new neuropeptides, such as orexins, involved in body-weight homeostasis. The present review summarises research into energy balance, starting from the original classical hypotheses proposing metabolite sensing, through peripheral tissue-brain interactions and coming full circle to the recently-discovered role of hypothalamic fatty acid synthase in feeding regulation. Understanding these molecular mechanisms will provide new pharmacological targets for the treatment of obesity and appetite disorders.

The therapeutic potential of gut hormone peptide YY3-36 in the treatment of obesity

Many peptides are synthesised and released from the gastrointestinal tract. Although their roles in the regulation of gastrointestinal function have been known for some time, it has become increasingly evident that they also influence eating behaviour. Peptide YY (PYY) is released postprandially from gastrointestinal L-cells with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and oxyntomodulin. Following peripheral administration of PYY3-36, the circulating form of PYY, to mouse, rat or human there is marked inhibition of food intake. Obese subjects have lower basal fasting PYY levels and have a smaller postprandial rise. However, obesity does not appear to be associated with resistance to PYY (as it is with leptin) and exogenous infusion of PYY3-36 results in a reduction in food intake by 30% in an obese group and 31% in a lean group at a buffet meal. Overall PYY significantly reduced 24-h caloric intake in both obese (16.5%) and lean groups (23.5%). Obesity is the current major cause of premature death in the UK, killing almost 1000 people a week. Worldwide its prevalence is accelerating. The administration of the naturally occurring gut hormone may offer a long-term therapeutic approach to weight control. Here, the therapeutic potential of PYY is considered.

Keynote review: in vitro safety pharmacology profiling: an essential tool for successful drug development

Broad-scale in vitro pharmacology profiling of new chemical entities during early phases of drug discovery has recently become an essential tool to predict clinical adverse effects. Modern, relatively inexpensive assay technologies and rapidly expanding knowledge about G-protein coupled receptors, nuclear receptors, ion channels and enzymes have made it possible to implement a large number of assays addressing possible clinical liabilities. Together with other in vitro assays focusing on toxicology and bioavailability, they provide a powerful tool to aid drug development. In this article, we review the development of this tool for drug discovery, its appropriate use and predictive value.

Interactions between gut peptides and the central melanocortin system in the regulation of energy homeostasis

Genetic and pharmacological studies have shown that the central melanocortin system plays a critical role in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Animals and humans with defects in the central melanocortin system display a characteristic melanocortin obesity phenotype typified by increased adiposity, hyperphagia, metabolic defects and increased linear growth. In addition to interacting with long-term regulators of energy homeostasis such as leptin, more recent data suggest that the central melanocortin system also responds to gut-released peptides involved in mediating satiety. In this review, we discuss the interactions between these systems, with particular emphasis on cholecystokinin (CCK), ghrelin and PYY(3-36).

Hormonal regulation of food intake

Our knowledge of the physiological systems controlling energy homeostasis has increased dramatically over the last decade. The roles of peripheral signals from adipose tissue, pancreas, and the gastrointestinal tract reflecting short- and long-term nutritional status are now being described. Such signals influence central circuits in the hypothalamus, brain stem, and limbic system to modulate neuropeptide release and hence food intake and energy expenditure. This review discusses the peripheral hormones and central neuronal pathways that contribute to control of appetite.

Longitudinal axis of the hippocampus: both septal and temporal poles of the hippocampus support water maze spatial learning depending on the training protocol

It has been suggested previously that 30% sparing of the hippocampus is enough to support spatial learning of a reference memory task in a water maze provided the spared tissue is located septally (Moser et al. 1995, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92:9697-9701). Therefore, the temporal hippocampus may not be involved in spatial memory. Place cells are also found in this part of the structure, and it has been suggested that these place cells have larger, less well-tuned place fields than are found in the septal hippocampus. We tested the possibility that the temporal hippocampus might be involved in spatial learning when the animals are required to distinguish between different contexts. Experiment 1 was a replication of the findings reported by Moser et al., using their protocol (8 trials/day, 6 days) and the groups with 20-40% hippocampus spared septally or temporally (volume assessed by quantitative volumetric techniques). In experiment 2, rats with also 20-40% sparing of the hippocampus either septally or temporally were trained in two water maze concurrently (four trials/day/water maze, 8 days). Rats with 20-40% hippocampus spared temporally were able to learn the two water maze tasks normally, and no difference was observed between rats with septal and temporal hippocampus spared across different measures of performance. In experiment 3, rats with 20-40% hippocampus spared septally or temporally were trained in one water maze as in experiment 1, but using a spaced training protocol similar to that of experiment 2 (four trials/day, 8 days). Rats with temporal hippocampus spared developed a preference for the training quadrant and acquired levels of performance indistinguishable from those of rats with septal hippocampus spared. The results suggest that the temporal hippocampus can support the learning of two, but also one, spatial water maze reference memory task, provided the training protocol is adequate.

Appetite suppression based on selective inhibition of NPY receptors

AIM

The aim of this review is to critically assess available evidence that blockade of the actions of NPY at one of the five NPY receptor subtypes represents an attractive new drug discovery target for the development of an appetite suppressant drug.

RESULTS

Blockade of the central actions of NPY using anti-NPY antibodies, antisense oligodeoxynucleotides against NPY and NPY receptor antagonists results in a decrease in food intake in energy-deprived animals. These results appear to show that endogenous NPY plays a role in the control of appetite. The fact that NPY receptors exist as at least five different subtypes raises the possibility that the actions of endogenous NPY on food intake can be adequately dissociated from other effects of the peptide. Current drug discovery has produced a number of highly selective NPY receptor antagonists which have been used to establish the NPY Y(1) receptor subtype as the most critical in regulating short-term food intake. However, additional studies are now needed to more clearly define the relative contribution of NPY acting through the NPY Y2 and NPY Y5 receptors in the complex sequence of physiological and behavioral events that underlie the long-term control of appetite.

CONCLUSIONS

Blockade of the NPY receptor may produce appetite-suppressing drugs. However, it is too early to state with certainty whether a single subtype selective drug used alone or a combination of NPY receptor selective antagonists used in combination will be necessary to adequately influence appetite regulation.

Peptide YY: a key mediator of orexigenic behavior

Peptide YY (PYY) is the most potent orexigenic peptide or substance known. However, neither the underlying physiology of this hyperphagia nor PYY's natural role in brain are well understood. Thus, this review details the neuroanatomical sites, the neurochemical and systemic interactions, the food-related properties and the motivational factors that characterize hyperphagia elicited by central PYY. Emphasis also is given to evidence that central PYY has properties functionally distinct from neuropeptide Y. Finally, future research directions are outlined that aim at accelerating our understanding of the roles that brain PYY and PYY-preferring receptors occupy in normal and abnormal feeding behavior.

Feeding after fourth ventricular administration of neuropeptide Y receptor agonists in rats

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and peptide YY (PYY) stimulate food intake after injection into the fourth cerebral ventricle, suggesting that NPY receptors in the hindbrain are targets for the stimulatory effect of these peptides on food intake. However, the NPY/PYY receptor subtype mediating the feeding response in the hindbrain is not known. To approach to this question we compared dose-effect of several NPY receptor agonists to stimulate food intake in freely-feeding rats 60- and 120-min after injection into the fourth cerebral ventricle. At the 120-min time point, PYY was 2- to 10-times as potent as NPY over the dose-response range and stimulated twice the total intake at the maximally effective dose (2-fold greater efficacy). NPY was 2-times as potent as the Y1, Y5 receptor agonist, [Leu(31)Pro(34)]NPY but acted with comparable efficacy. The Y5-, Y2-differentiating receptor agonist, NPY 2-36, was comparable in potency to PYY at low doses but equal in efficacy NPY and [Leu(31)Pro(34)]NPY. The Y2 receptor agonist, NPY 13-36, produced only a marginal effect on total food intake. The profile of agonist potency after fourth cerebral ventricle administration is similar to the profile obtained when these or related agonists are injected in the region of the hypothalamus. Agonists at both Y1 and Y5 receptors stimulated food intake with a rank order of potency that does not conclusively favor the exclusive involvement of a single known NPY receptor subtype. Thus it is possible that the ingestive effects of NPY and PYY are mediated by multiple or novel receptor subtypes in the hindbrain. And the relatively greater potency and efficacy of PYY raises the possibility that a novel PYY-preferring receptor in the hindbrain is involved in the stimulation of food intake.

Reduced food intake in response to CGP 71683A may be due to mechanisms other than NPY Y5 receptor blockade

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to test the continuing validity of the hypothesis that neuropeptide Y (NPY) produced in the brain controls food intake through an interaction with the NPY Y(5) receptor subtype.

METHODS

The hypothesis was tested using CGP 71683A a potent and highly selective non-peptide antagonist of the NPY Y(5) receptor which was administered into the right lateral ventricle of obese Zucker fa/fa rats.

RESULTS

Intraventricular injection of 3.4 nmol/kg NPY increased food intake during a 2 h test period. Doses of CGP 71683A in excess of 15 nmol/kg (i.cv.) resulted in blockade of the increase in food intake produced by NPY. Repeated daily injection of CGP 71683A (30--300 nmol/kg, i.cv.) immediately before the dark phase produced a dose-dependent and slowly developing decrease in food intake. CGP 71683A has a low affinity for NPY Y(1), Y(2) and Y(4) receptors but a very high affinity for the NPY Y(5) receptor (Ki, 1.4 nM). Surprisingly, CGP 71683A had similarly high affinity for muscarinic receptors (Ki, 2.7 nM) and for the serotonin uptake recognition site (Ki, 6.2 nM) in rat brain. Anatomic analysis of the brain after treatment with CGP 71683A demonstrated an inflammatory response associated with the fall in food intake.

CONCLUSIONS

While the fall in food intake in response to CGP 71683A may have a Y(5) component, interactions with other receptors or inflammatory mediators may also play a role. It is concluded that CGP 71683A is an imprecise tool for investigating the role of the NPY Y(5) receptor in the control of physiological processes including food intake. International Journal of Obesity (2001) 25, 84-94