FEEDING-RELATED EFFECTS OF CART (COCAINE- AND AMPHETAMINE-REGULATED TRANSCRIPT) PEPTIDES AND CHOLECYSTOKININ IN MOUSE OBESE MODELS

摘要

CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript) peptides are neurotransmitters involved in feeding, stress and endocrine regulation . CART is expressed in high amounts in about half of the vagal afferent neurons, together with CCK-A receptor which mediates satiating effect of cholecystokinin (CCK). Broberger et al showed that all CCK-A expressing cells contained CART and that CART and CCK-A receptor mRNA were parallely regulated. These finding suggest a possible co-operation and synergistic effect of CART and CCK on satiety similarly as it was found for CCK and leptin . In this study, we used intact, monosodium glutamate (MSG) induced obese and diet-induced obese (DIO) mice to search for relationship between CART peptides and CCK in food intake regulation.