Effect of hypothalamic PVN exogenous orexin-A on food intake in obese rats and regulation by NPY receptor signaling pathway

AIM:To investigate whether neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptor signaling pathway is involved in the regulation of orexin-A on food intake and glucose-sensitive (GS) neuronal excitability in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. METHODS:Fluorescence immunohistochemistry experiment was used to observe the expression of orexin-A receptor (orexin receptor 1, OX1R) and NPY receptor Y5 (NPY-5R) in the PVN. The effect of orexin-A on the excitability of GS neurons in PVN was observed by single cell discharge recording. The cannula was implanted into the PVN of SD rats and DIO rats. The orexin-A, OX1R antagonist SB-334867 and NPY-5R antagonist CGP-71683 were injected through the cannula to observe the 0~2 h and 0~4 h food intake of the rats. RESULTS:The expression of OX1R and NPY-5R in the PVN of DIO rats was significantly higher than that in the SD rats. Orexin-A inhibited glucose-inhibited (GI) neurons and excited glucose-excited (GE) neurons in the PVN. However, the effects of orexin-A on GS neurons were partially blocked by the NPY-5R antagonist CGP-71683. Compared with the SD rats, orexin-A had more pronounced excitatory and inhibitory effects on PVN GS neurons in the DIO rats. Injection of orexin-A in the PVN increased food intake in the SD rats and DIO rats. However, the orexin-A-induced feeding was partially blocked by the NPY-5R antagonist CGP-71683. The effect of orexin-A on feeding was stronger in the DIO rats than that in the SD rats. CONCLUSION:The hypothalamic PVN orexin-A regulates food intake and GS neuronal excitability mainly through the OX1R signaling pathway, and NPY-5R signaling is also involved in this process, in which the regulatory effect on DIO rats is more sensitive.