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Regulation of food intake: an ‘old’ actor plays a ‘new’ role

Molecular Psychiatry volume 8, pages 364–365 (2003)Cite this article

The role of insulin in the regulation of food intake is receiving more attention. Administration of insulin in the third ventricle of the brain and the use of animals genetically manipulated to disrupt insulin receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) point to the same conclusions: when insulin reaches the arcuate nucleus, it reduces the desire for food intake.

Food intake and energy utilization are primarily controlled by physiological mechanisms in which the CNS takes an active part. Failure of those mechanisms results in obesity, one of the major health problems in Western and developing countries. The concept that peripheral signals communicate with the CNS structures involved in the regulation of food intake was introduced in the 1950s.1 These peripheral signals include some that act rapidly, regulating individual meals, and some that act more slowly controlling the fat mass. Among the first group are cholecystokinin,2 ghrelin3 and PYY3-36.4 A description of the actions of these short-term regulators of food intake has been recently published.5 Regarding the slow-acting food intake regulators, one of the key elements of the system is the hormone, leptin, which is produced by adipocytes. When the fat mass increases, leptin levels also increase and by acting on the arcuate nucleus, food intake decreases.6 The actions of leptin on the arcuate nucleus are mediated by at least two classes of neurons. One class expresses pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), a precursor of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), and cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART). Both α-MSH and CART decrease food intake.7 Another class of neurons expresses neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-gene-related peptide (AGRP). Both NPY and AGRP, increase food intake.7 Leptin suppresses the orexigenic signals NPY and AGRP, and increases the anorexigenic peptides α-MSH and CART.6

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NIH, CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina) and Universidad de Buenos Aires.

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  1. Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, 10021, NY, USA

    G G Piroli

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Piroli, G. Regulation of food intake: an ‘old’ actor plays a ‘new’ role. Mol Psychiatry 8, 364–365 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001265

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