Characterization of central actions of neuropeptide Y on food and water intake in rabbits.

The effects of a 36-amino acid peptide, neuropeptide Y (NPY), on feeding and drinking behaviors were studied in young and adult rabbits. Intraventricular injection of NPY to adult rabbits induced feeding and drinking in a dose-related manner. While the lowest doses tested (0.2 micrograms) was without effect, other doses (0.5 and 1 microgram) elicited feeding and drinking almost instantaneously. When 1, 5 and 10 microgram doses were injected into young rabbits, immediate increases in feeding and drinking were evident, but differences in the magnitude of responses among these dosages were significant only in water consumption. Unlike studies in rats, in these rabbits NPY elicited a more pronounced response in drinking than in feeding. The drinking response after NPY administration was not a consequence of food intake because it occurred in the absence of food. With ad lib feeding, the majority of enhanced food consumption was confined to the first 30-min after NPY injection; however, an increased motivation to eat was retained for at least 2 hr after NPY when food was withheld and then returned. These observations are consistent with specific stimulatory effects of NPY on food and water intake.