Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) antagonizes the anorexia by corticotropin releasing factor (CRF).
We examined a hypothesis that alpha-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH) can antagonizes the anorexia induced by intracerebroventricular injection of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF). Food intake of the rats deprived of food for 18 h was significantly inhibited by 4 h after intracerebroventricular injection of CRF. alpha-MSH also suppressed food consumption by 4 h after the treatment. However, simultaneous administration of alpha-MSH attenuated the anorexic effect of CRF at 0-2 h period and food consumption for 4 h was equal to controls. In addition, simultaneous administration of alpha-MSH deleted the stimulatory effects of CRF on serum corticosterone levels. The present experiment demonstrated that alpha-MSH can antagonizes the anorexia and activation of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis by CRF, suggesting that the processing step of proopiomelanocortin may be important for the induction of anorexia elicited by CRF.
Oohara
M
M
First Department of Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Negishi
M
M
Shimizu
H
H
Sato
N
N
Mori
M
M
D000818:Animals; D000855:Anorexia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009074:Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D009074:Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormones; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone