title: Regulation of food intake by melanin-concentrating hormone in goldfish.
abstract: Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), originally discovered in the teleost pituitary, is a hypothalamic neuropeptide involved in the regulation of body color in fish. Although MCH is also present in the mammalian brain, it has no evident function in providing pigmentation. Instead, this peptide is now recognized to be one of the key neuropeptides that act as appetite enhancers in mammals such as rodents and primates. Although there has been little information about the central action of MCH on appetite in fish, recent studies have indicated that, in goldfish, MCH acts as an anorexigenic neuropeptide, modulating the alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone signaling pathway through neuronal interaction. These observations indicate that there may be major differences in the mode of action of MCH between fish and mammals. This paper reviews what is currently known about the regulation of food intake by MCH in fish, especially the goldfish.
authors.affiliation: University of Toyama, Gofuku, Japan. kmatsuda@sci.u-toyama.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kouhei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Sei-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimakura
authors.forename: Akiyoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects*; D006054:Goldfish / Q000502:physiology*; D007028:Hypothalamic Hormones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D008543:Melanins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010907:Pituitary Hormones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D007028:Hypothalamic Hormones; D008543:Melanins; D010907:Pituitary Hormones; C019463:melanin-concentrating hormone