title: Effect of intrahippocampal administration of anti-melanin-concentrating hormone on spatial food-seeking behavior in rats.
abstract: Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a hypothalamic peptide that plays a critical role in the regulation of food intake and energy metabolism. In this study, we investigated the potential role of dense hippocampal MCH innervation in the spatially oriented food-seeking component of feeding behavior. Rats were trained for eight sessions to seek food buried in an arena using the working memory version of the food-seeking behavior (FSB) task. The testing day involved a bilateral anti-MCH injection into the hippocampal formation followed by two trials. The anti-MCH injection did not interfere with the performance during the first trial on the testing day, which was similar to the training trials. However, during the second testing trial, when no food was presented in the arena, the control subjects exhibited a dramatic increase in the latency to initiate digging. Treatment with an anti-MCH antibody did not interfere with either the food-seeking behavior or the spatial orientation of the subjects, but the increase in the latency to start digging observed in the control subjects was prevented. These results are discussed in terms of a potential MCH-mediated hippocampal role in the integration of the sensory information necessary for decision-making in the pre-ingestive component of feeding behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo-USP, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciane Valéria
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Sita
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo-USP, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giovanne Baroni
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo-USP, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil; Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, Institute of Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, 05508-030 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Newton Sabino
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Canteras
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biosciences, University of Sao Paulo-USP, 05508-090 Sao Paulo, Brazil; Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, Institute of Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, 05508-030 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto Fernando
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo-USP, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil; Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, Institute of Psychology, University of Sao Paulo, 05508-030 Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: jcbitten@icb.usp.br.
authors.forename: Jackson Cioni
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bittencourt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003657:Decision Making; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D007028:Hypothalamic Hormones / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008543:Melanins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010907:Pituitary Hormones / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D007028:Hypothalamic Hormones; D007106:Immune Sera; D008543:Melanins; D010907:Pituitary Hormones; C019463:melanin-concentrating hormone
keywords: Dry-land maze; Food intake; Foraging; Hippocampus; Spatial memory; Working memory