Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA; Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053, USA.
Neuron. 2019 Jun 5;102(5):1037-1052.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.03.037. Epub 2019 Apr 24.
Food palatability is one of many factors that drives food consumption, and the hedonic drive to feed is a key contributor to obesity and binge eating. In this study, we identified a population of prepronociceptin-expressing cells in the central amygdala (Pnoc) that are activated by palatable food consumption. Ablation or chemogenetic inhibition of these cells reduces palatable food consumption. Additionally, ablation of Pnoc cells reduces high-fat-diet-driven increases in bodyweight and adiposity. Pnoc neurons project to the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (vBNST), parabrachial nucleus (PBN), and nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), and activation of cell bodies in the central amygdala (CeA) or axons in the vBNST, PBN, and NTS produces reward behavior but did not promote feeding of palatable food. These data suggest that the Pnoc network is necessary for promoting the reinforcing and rewarding properties of palatable food, but activation of this network itself is not sufficient to promote feeding.
食物的美味是促使人们进食的众多因素之一，而进食的愉悦感是导致肥胖和暴食的一个关键因素。在这项研究中，我们发现中央杏仁核（Pnoc）中存在一群表达前阿片促黑皮质素原的细胞，这些细胞会被美味的食物所激活。这些细胞的消融或化学遗传抑制会减少人们对美味食物的摄取。此外，Pnoc 细胞的消融会减少高脂肪饮食引起的体重增加和肥胖。Pnoc 神经元投射到终纹床核腹侧部（vBNST）、臂旁核（PBN）和孤束核（NTS），而中央杏仁核（CeA）的细胞体或 vBNST、PBN 和 NTS 的轴突的激活会产生奖励行为，但不会促进美味食物的摄取。这些数据表明，Pnoc 网络对于促进美味食物的强化和奖励特性是必要的，但激活该网络本身不足以促进进食。
