Increased neuropeptide Y concentrations in specific hypothalamic nuclei of the rat following treatment with methysergide: evidence that NPY may mediate serotonin's effects on food intake.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a potent central appetite stimulant found in hypothalamic neurons that have close anatomical associations with neurons containing serotonin, a powerful anorectic agent. To determine whether the two neurotransmitters interact functionally, we have studied the effects on regional hypothalamic NPY concentrations of acute and chronic administration of methysergide, a 5-HT1BC/serotonin receptor antagonist. Chronic methysergide treatment (10 mg/kg/day) was given by subcutaneously implanted osmotic minipumps (n = 8). Acute effects of methysergide were determined 4 h after a single injection (10 mg/kg) in a separate group (n = 8). Controls (n = 8) had implanted minipumps delivering saline, and also received a saline injection 4 h before sacrifice. Food intake was significantly increased (p < 0.01) by both acute and chronic methysergide treatment. In the chronically treated rats, NPY levels were significantly increased over controls in the arcuate nucleus (ARC; by 41%, p = 0.02) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN; by 40%, p < 0.01). Acute methysergide treatment also increased NPY concentrations in the ARC (by 81%, p < 0.01) and PVN (by 30%, p < 0.01). Methysergide administration, which stimulated feeding, therefore raised NPY concentrations in the ARC, where NPY is synthesized, and in the PVN, a major site of NPY release where NPY injection induces hyperphagia. These findings suggest that NPYergic and serotoninergic innervations in the hypothalamus interact to regulate food intake, and raise the possibility that increased NPY release may mediate the hyperphagic effect of serotoninergic 5-HT1BC/receptor blockade.