AICAR and Compound C regulate food intake independently of AMP-activated protein kinase in lines of chickens selected for high or low body weight.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) functions to maintain cellular and body energy balance. Our aim was to investigate the effect of intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of AMPK stimulator AICAR and AMPK inhibitor Compound C on food intake in lines of chickens that had undergone long-term selection from a common founder population for high (HWS) or low (LWS) body weight. AICAR caused a quadratic dose-dependent decrease in food intake in LWS but not HWS chicks. Compound C caused a quadratic dose-dependent increase in food intake in HWS but not in LWS chicks. Key aspects of the AMPK pathway, including upstream kinases mRNA expression, AMPK subunit α mRNA expression and phosphorylation, and a downstream target acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) phosphorylation were not affected by either AICAR or Compound C in either line. The exception was a significant inhibitory effect of AICAR on ACC phosphorylation ratio due to increased total ACC protein content without changing phosphorylated ACC protein levels. Thus, the anorexigenic effect of AICAR in LWS chicks and orexigenic effect of Compound C in HWS chicks resulted from activation or inhibition of other kinase pathways separate from AMPK. These results suggest genetic variation in feeding response for central AICAR and Compound C in chickens, which may contribute to the different body weights between the HWS and LWS lines.