Abstract
Ghrelin stimulates feeding when administered centrally and peripherally. The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is thought to mediate ghrelin-induced hyperphagia. Thus, we examined central mechanisms underlying feeding generated by LH ghrelin. We determined that 0.3nmol of LH-injected ghrelin was the lowest dose increasing food consumption and it induced Fos immunoreactivity (IR; a marker of neuronal activation) in feeding-related brain areas, including the hypothalamic paraventricular, arcuate, and dorsomedial nuclei, amygdala, and nucleus of the solitary tract. Also, LH ghrelin induced Fos IR in LH orexin neurons. We conclude that the LH, as part of larger central circuitry, integrates orexigenic properties of ghrelin.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 597-602 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Peptides |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2003 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This project was supported by NIH, National Research Service Award T32DA07097 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, by the Department of Veterans Affairs, by the National Institute of Drug abuse Grant DA-03999, and by the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Grant DK-42698 and P30 DK-50456.
Keywords
- Arcuate nucleus
- Central nucleus of the amygdala
- Dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus
- Food intake
- Fos
- Ghrelin
- Hypocretin
- Immunohistochemistry
- Lateral hypothalamus
- Nucleus of the solitary tract
- Orexin
- Paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus