We have used the selective melanin-concentrating hormone-1 (MCH(1)) receptor antagonist SNAP 7941 [((+)-methyl (4S)-3-{[(3-{4-[3-(acetylamino)phenyl]-1-piperidinyl}propyl) amino]carbonyl}-4-(3,4-difluorophenyl)-6-(methoxymethyl)-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-5-pyrimidinecarboxylate hydrochloride)] to investigate the role of the hypothalamic neuropeptide MCH in the control of voiding in rats. Intrave...

Current epidemic obesity levels apply great medical and financial pressure to the strenuous economy of obesity-prone cultures, and neuropeptides involved in body weight regulation are regarded as attractive targets for a possible treatment of obesity in humans. The lateral hypothalamus and the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) form a hypothalamic-limbic neuropeptide feeding circuit mediated by Me...

Ancillary to decline in cognitive abilities, patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) frequently suffer from behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Hypothalamic polypeptides such as melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) and hypocretin-1 (HCRT-1, orexin-A) are promoters of sleep-wake regulation and energy homeostasis and are found to impact on cognitive performance. To investigat...

OBJECTIVE Maternal and child health (MCH) care may provide an entry point for HIV services in high HIV-prevalence settings. Our objective was to assess integration of HIV with MCH services in public sector facilities in Swaziland. DESIGN In 2009, 2010 and 2012, client flow assessments (CFAs) were conducted over 5 days in the MCH units of eight government facilities, purposively selected as in...

Purpose: Hyperpolarized noble gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides a way to map both functional and structural pulmonary information. Specifically in asthmatics, inhaled hyperpolarized gas MRI has been used to evaluate bronchoconstriction (methacholine-challenge [MCh]) and bronchodilation (salbutamol), showing ventilation defects that respond to MCh and salbutamol [1]. Fourier decompos...

INTRODUCTION Bronchial challenge tests by inhalation of aerosolized methacholine (MCH) are commonly used in the clinical diagnosis of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). While the detection of airway narrowing relies on the patient's cooperation performing forced spirometry, body plethysmographic measurements of airway resistance are less depending on the patient's cooperation and do not alter th...

Yao Y, Fu L-Y, Zhang X, van den Pol AN. Vasopressin and oxytocin excite MCH neurons, but not other lateral hypothalamic GABA neurons. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 302: R815–R824, 2012. First published January 18, 2012; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00452.2011.—Neurons that synthesize melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) colocalize GABA, regulate energy homeostasis, modulate water intake, and inf...

We have undertaken a structural and functional study of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed on gold from a series of alkylthiol compounds containing terminal multivalent chelators (MCHs) composed of mono-, bis-, and tris-nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) moieties. SAMs were formed from single-component solutions of the mono-, bis-, and tris-NTA compounds, as well as from mixtures with a tri(ethyl...

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide with a prominent role in feeding and energy homeostasis. The rodent MCH receptor (MCH1R) is highly expressed in the nucleus accumbens shell (AcSh), a region that is important in the regulation of appetitive behavior. Here we establish a role for MCH and MCH1R in mediating a hypothalamic-limbic circuit that regulates feeding and ...