title: Correlation analysis of hypothalamic mRNA levels of appetite regulatory neuropeptides and several metabolic parameters in 28-day-old layer chickens.
abstract: Various lines of evidence suggest that appetite-related neuropeptides in the hypothalamus are regulated by adiposity signals such as leptin and insulin in mammals. In the present study, we examined age-dependent changes in the weight of abdominal fat and hypothalamic mRNA levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY, an orexigenic neuropeptide) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC, a precursor of anorexigenic neuropeptides) in growing chickens at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of age. Hypothalamic NPY mRNA levels were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased after 14 days of age, whereas hypothalamic POMC mRNA levels were significantly (P < 0.05) increased at 28 days of age. The percentage of abdominal fat was significantly increased after 14 days of age in chickens. We next examined the correlation of hypothalamic NPY and POMC mRNA levels and several parameters at 28 days of age. There were no significant correlations between hypothalamic mRNA levels of NPY or POMC and the percentage of abdominal fat. These findings suggest that the gene expressions of NPY and POMC do not depend on adiposity in chickens, at least in 28-day-old layer chickens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioresource Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Takaoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saneyasu
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimatani
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamisoyama
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism; D050154:Adiposity / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin
keywords: CRF; NPY; POMC; appetite; hypothalamus