The arcuate nucleus is generally conserved across vertebrate taxa in its neuroanatomy and neuropeptide expression. Gene expression of agouti-related protein (AGRP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) has been established in the arcuate nucleus of several bird species and co-localization demonstrated for AGRP and NPY. The p...

Neurons coexpressing neuropeptide Y, agouti-related peptide, and GABA (NAG) play an important role in ingestive behavior and are located in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. NAG neurons receive both GABAergic and glutamatergic synaptic inputs, however, the developmental time course of synaptic input organization of NAG neurons in mice is unknown. In this study, we show that these neurons...

The importance of the central nervous system in cardiovascular regulation is well established. The brain is able to sense changes that occur in the peripheral circulation through several mechanisms, including afferent neural reflexes and humoral signals. The brain in turn can adjust various components of the cardiovascular system to maintain homeostasis by modulating the release of critical hor...

OBJECTIVE To clarify the mechanism of the suppressive effect of 2-buten-4-olide (2-B4O), an endogenous feeding suppressant, on the pulsatile secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH), by studying whether endogenous opioid peptides are involved in this suppressive effect. METHODS Using ovariectomized (ovx) rats, blood samples were taken every 6 min for 2 h after administration of 2-B4O or saline i...

Prader-Willi Syndrome is the most common syndromic form of human obesity and is caused by the loss of function of several genes, including MAGEL2. Mice lacking Magel2 display increased weight gain with excess adiposity and other defects suggestive of hypothalamic deficiency. We demonstrate Magel2-null mice are insensitive to the anorexic effect of peripherally administered leptin. Although thei...

Glucocorticoid receptors are highly expressed in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and arcuate nucleus (ARC). As glucocorticoids have pronounced effects on neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression and as NPY neurons projecting from the ARC to the PVN are pivotal for balancing feeding behavior and glucose metabolism, we investigated the effect of glucocorticoid signaling in these areas on en...