Proteins activate satiety-related neuronal pathways in the brainstem and hypothalamus of rats.
Our objective was to study the relationship between the satiety induced by high-protein meals and the activation of brain areas involved in the onset of satiety. In rats, we used immunohistochemistry to monitor brain centers activated by a meal by receiving information from the gastrointestinal tract or via humoral pathways. In the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), the acute or chronic intake of high-protein meals led to increased activation of the noradrenergic/adrenergic neurons involved in cholecystokinin-induced satiety. In the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, the melanocortin pathway was also more strongly activated after the acute or chronic intake of high-protein meals. Moreover, the glucagon-like peptide 1 pathway arising from the NTS, which is triggered, among other behaviors, during nonphysiological anorexia, was not activated by high-protein meals, supporting the lack of aversive behavior associated with this diet. Taken together, these results show that the ability of high-protein meals to inhibit food intake occurs alongside the activation, in nutrient-sensitive brain areas, of several specific neuronal populations involved in satiety.
Faipoux
Rodolphe
R
UMR914 Nutrition Physiology and Ingestive Behavior, INRA, AgroParisTech, CRNH-IdF, F-75005 Paris, France.
Tomé
Daniel
D
Gougis
Sylvette
S
Darcel
Nicolas
N
Fromentin
Gilles
G
D000818:Animals; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012527:Satiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*
D004044:Dietary Proteins