Neuropeptide Y influences acute food intake and energy status affects NPY immunoreactivity in the female musk shrew (Suncus murinus).

ABSTRACT: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) stimulates feeding, depresses sexual behavior, and its expression in the brain is modulated by energetic status. We examined the role of NPY in female musk shrews, a species with high energetic and reproductive demands; they store little fat, and small changes in energy can rapidly diminish or enhance sexual receptivity. Intracerebroventricular infusion of NPY enhanced acute food intake in shrews; however, NPY had little affect on sexual receptivity. The distribution of NPY immunoreactivity in the female musk shrew brain was unremarkable, but energy status differentially affected NPY immunoreactivity in several regions. Similar to what has been noted in other species, NPY immunoreactivity was less dense in brains of ad libitum shrews and greater in shrews subjected to

SUBMITTER: Bojkowska K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2277327 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature