Caffeine treatment regulates neuropeptide S system expression in the rat brain.
Caffeine has marked effects on sleep, arousal and food intake. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying these actions are not fully understood. Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a recently discovered neuropeptide regulating both sleep and feeding. Here, we examined the effect of acute and chronic caffeine treatment on the expression of neuropeptide S and its receptor (NPS-R) in the hypothalamus and brainstem of rats by using real-time PCR. Our results showed that acute caffeine treatment induces a marked decrease in the mRNA levels of NPS in the brainstem, whilst the expression levels NPS-R are increased in both hypothalamus and brainstem after caffeine treatment. The timing of both processes differs, with acute treatment affecting brainstem NPS-R expression and chronic treatment affecting hypothalamic NPS-R expression. Overall, these data suggest a possible role for the NPS system in mediating some of the behavioral effects of caffeine.
Lage
Ricardo
R
Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, S. Francisco s/n 15782, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain.
Diéguez
Carlos
C
López
Miguel
M
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects*; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D009479:Neuropeptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide; D002110:Caffeine