title: Effects of ghrelin on the feeding behavior of Lymantria dispar L. (Lymantriidae) caterpillars.
abstract: Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide which has significant effects on animal appetite, thus influencing body mass. The aim of our study was to examine the effects of ghrelin on the feeding behavior and physiology 4th instar caterpillars of the pest insect, Lymantria dispar L. Treatment of 4th instar caterpillars with four subpicomolar amounts of ghrelin had a positive influence on daily food intake, frass elimination, body mass. Also, locomotor activity increased, while stadium duration decreased in treated caterpillars. The similarity between the effects of ghrelin on caterpillar physiology and those in mammals suggests that using this model system for further studies of neuroendocrinological processes underlying feeding could lead to essential information about more complex organisms.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Research Sinisa Stanković, University of Belgrade, Serbia. vesper@ibiss.bg.ac.yu
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perić-Mataruga
authors.forename: Dejan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mircić
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vlahović
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mrdaković
authors.forename: Dajana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Todorović
authors.forename: Darko
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stevanović
authors.forename: Verica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Milosević
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009036:Moths / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin