Intracerebroventricular administration of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) enhances thigmotaxis and induces anxiety-like behavior in the goldfish Carassius auratus.

α-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a body pigmentation-regulating hormone secreted from the intermediate lobe of the pituitary in vertebrates. It is also produced in the brain, and acts as an anorexigenic neuropeptide involved in feeding regulation. In rodents, intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of α-MSH has been shown to affect not only feeding behavior, but also psychomotor activity. However, there is still no information regarding the psychophysiological effects of α-MSH on behavior in fish. Therefore, we examined the effect of synthetic α-MSH on psychomotor activity in goldfish. Since this species prefers the edge to the central area of a tank, we used this as a preference test for assessing psychomotor activity. When α-MSH was administered ICV at 1 and 10 pmol g body weight (BW), the time spent in the edge area of a tank was prolonged at 10 pmol g BW. However, α-MSH at these doses did not affect locomotor activity. The action of α-MSH mimicked those of FG-7142 (a central-type benzodiazepine receptor (CBR) inverse agonist with an anxiogenic effect) at 10 pmol g BW and melanotan II (a melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) agonist) at 50 pmol g BW, whereas ICV administration of tofisopam (a CBR agonist with an anxiolytic effect) at 10 pmol g BW prolonged the time spent in the central area. The anxiogenic-like effect of α-MSH was abolished by treatment with the MC4R antagonist HS024 at 50 pmol g BW. These data indicate that α-MSH affects psychomotor activity in goldfish, and exerts an anxiogenic-like effect via the MC4R-signaling pathway.