Cholecystokinin and bombesin act independently to decrease food intake in the rat

The satiating effects of cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-8) and bombesin (BBS) when injected alone and in combination were compared in intact rats. When injected alone, both CCK-8 and BBS elicited a dose-related decrease of 30-minute food intake. Injections of BBS were less potent than the equivalent doses of CCK-8 in producing satiety. BBS reached an asymptotic level of suppression of approximately 40 percent at a dose of 2 micrograms/kg, whereas injections of 4 micrograms/kg of CCK-8 resulted in a 72 percent suppression of food intake. When the two peptides were administered in a single injection, the resulting suppression of food intake was equivalent to that which would be predicted if their effects were completely additive. These results support the hypothesis that CCK-8 and BBS act via independent mechanisms to induce satiety. A preliminary model of peptidergic satiety, based on this hypothesis, is proposed.     

MK-329 blocks the inhibition of alcohol intake by CCK-8

Peripheral administration of sulfated cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) potently reduces alcohol intake, preference, and blood levels in rats. MK-329 (L-364,718 or Devazepide) acts at peripheral cholecystokinin (CCK_A) receptors to antagonize CCK-8's physiological and behavioral effects, such as pancreatic stimulation and inhibition of feeding. We determined whether CCK_A receptor blockade would also prevent CCK-8's alcohol satiety effect. Water-deprived female and male rats (n = 7 for each) received randomized combinations of intraperitoneal injections of MK-329 (0, 100, 200, or 400 μg/kg) followed by CCK-8 (0 or 4 μg/kg). Rats were then given access to 5% w/v ethanol for 30 min, followed by 30-min access to water, with food ad lib. MK-329 at all doses significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the suppression of alcohol intake and food intake by CCK-8. MK-329 alone increased alcohol intake at 400 μg/kg, and increased food intake, in females and males at 100 and 200 μg/kg, respectively. We concluded that CCK-8's alcohol and food satiation effects depend on specific, peripheral CCK_A receptors, and satiation of alcohol consumption and drinking-associated feeding reflect an endogenous functional interaction of CCK-8 with CCK_A receptors.     

The effect of vagotomy on the increase in food intake induced by the cholecystokinin antagonist, proglumide

Cholecystokinin, secreted when ingested food enters the duodenum, may act as a satiety factor. Injection of proglumide, a specific antagonist of cholecystokinin, induced an increase in food intake. The satiety effect of administered cholecystokinin is abolished by bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy. If endogenous and exogenous cholecystokinin act via the same mechanism, then vagotomy should abolish the proglumide-induced increase in food intake. Proglumide was used to block the satiety effect of a food preload in sham-operated and vagotomized rats. Proglumide induced an increase in food intake in sham-operated rats confirming earlier results. No change in meal size was observed in vagotomized rats following proglumide injection. These results suggest that vagotomy abolishes the effect of endogenous cholecystokinin on food intake. However, evidence of dumping in vagotomized rats prevents the interpretation of the data as a direct vagal involvement in endogenous CCK-induced satiety.     

Abdominal vagotomy does not block the satiety effect of bombesin in the rat

Bombesin (2-16 microgram-kg-1, intraperitoneally) inhibited food intake in rats after abdominal vagotomy. Since the same vagotomized rats did not respond to the octapeptide of cholecystokinin (1-8 micrograms-kg-1, intraperitoneally), these data are decisive evidence (1) that bombesin does not produce satiety by releasing endogenous cholecystokinin and (2) that vagal afferents are not necessary for the satiety effect of bombesin.     

The effect of vagotomy on the satiety effects of neuropeptides and naloxone

As abdominal vagotomy blocks the satiety effect of cholecystokinin-octapeptide, we felt it would be worthwhile to examine whether the satiety effect of any of the other putative satiety neuropeptides was mediated through the vagus. We confirmed that the satiety effect of peripherally administered cholecystokinin (10 micrograms/kg) was mediated through the vagus. In addition, the satiety effect of peripherally administered TRH (8 mg/kg) also was not present in vagotomized animals. Vagotomy had no effect on the satiety effects of peripherally administered bombesin, calcitonin and naloxone. Nor did vagotomy alter the satiety effect produced by central administration of bombesin, TRH, calcitonin nor naloxone.     

Cholecystokinin-33 inhibits meal size and prolongs the subsequent intermeal interval

There are various forms of the satiety gut-brain peptide cholecystokinin (CCK), a short, widely utilized form or CCK-8, and a long, putatively more effective form or CCK-33. The issue of which of these forms is a more effective satiety peptide is not resolved. Here, we compared the satiety responses, including the sizes of the first three meals (MS) and intermeal intervals (IMI) as well as their calculated satiety ratios (SR), evoked by both peptides. CCK-8 and 33 (1, 3 and 5 nmol/kg, i.p) reduced the size of the first meal similarly, only CCK-33 prolonged the first IMI and increased SR and both peptides failed to affect second and third MS and IMI. As such, CCK-33 is a more effective satiety peptide than CCK-8. The current results confirm previous findings which showed that both peptides reduce food intake by inhibiting meal size, whereas only CCK-33 reduces food intake by prolonging the intermeal interval.     

Photoperiod-peptide interactions in the energy intake of Siberian hamsters

Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorous sungorous) decrease their food intake when exposed to short (“winter-like”) photoperiods. The cause of this naturally-occurring hypophagia is unknown, but it may be due to a heightened sensitivity to the factors that normally terminate food intake in long photoperiods, such as the putative satiety peptides. The purpose of the present investigation was to test whether there would be an enhanced sensitivity to the inhibitory effects of some of these peptides on food intake in short relative to long days. Ad lib-fed, adult female Siberian hamsters were housed in a long photoperiod (LD 14:10) and injected with bombesin, glucagon, cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) and calcitonin (CT). Food intake was monitored 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 hr post-injection. Bombesin and glucagon had no effect on food intake in long day-housed hamsters. CCK-8 and CT inhibited food intake; however, CCK-8 did so without any apparent behavioral disruption, while CT produced a marked and prolonged depression of behavior. After 10 weeks of exposure to a short photoperiod (LD 8:16) the hamsters were tested again. The previously ineffective dose of bombesin greatly inhibited food intake following short photoperiod exposure. In addition, an increased inhibition of food intake by CCK-8 was also found. In contrast, glucagon did not decrease food intake and CT still produced its non-specific, behaviorally disruptive effects. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that the effectiveness of a putative satiety peptide can be dependent upon a change in the photoperiod. This heightened responsiveness of short photoperiod-exposed Siberian hamsters to the inhibitory effects of bombesin and cholecystokinin may account for the reduction in food intake that accompanies short day exposure in this species.     

Interaction of apolipoprotein AIV with cholecystokinin on the control of food intake

Apolipoprotein AIV (apo AIV) and cholecystokinin (CCK) are peptides that act both peripherally and centrally to reduce food intake by decreasing meal size. The present study examined the effects of intraperitoneally administered bolus doses of recombinant apo AIV, CCK-8, and a combination of subthreshold doses of apo AIV and CCK on 4-h food intake in rats that were fasted overnight. Apo AIV at 100 microg/kg reduced food intake significantly relative to the saline control for 1 h, as did doses of CCK-8 at or above 0.125 microg/kg. Doses of apo AIV (50 microg/kg) or CCK (0.06 microg/kg) alone had no effect on food intake. However, when these subthreshold doses of apo AIV and CCK were administered together, the combination produced a significant inhibition of food intake relative to saline controls (P < 0.001), and the duration of the effect was longer than that caused by the administration of either apo AIV or CCK alone. The satiation effect produced by CCK-8 + apo AIV was attenuated by lorglumide, a CCK1 receptor antagonist. We conclude that, whereas the intraperitoneal administration of doses of either recombinant apo AIV or CCK at or above threshold levels reduces food intake, the coadministration of subthreshold doses of the two peptides is highly satiating and works via CCK1 receptor.     

The role of cholecystokinin octapeptide in the central control of food intake in the dog

Cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8, 1, 190 pmol/5 min) decreased food intake and water consumption in two models of ingestive behavior, i.e., food deprivation-induced feeding and insulin-induced feeding, when administered into the third (3V) and lateral (LV) cerebral ventricles. In fasted dogs, the suppression of food intake was more prominent after 3V CCK-8, whereas intravenously administered CCK-8 was without effect. Neuropeptide Y (NPY, 1, 190 pmol) had no significant stimulatory effect on food intake and water consumption in fasted as well as satiated dogs, and actually reduced both food and water intake in insulin-treated dogs. There was a slight but significant decrease in food and water intake after 275 nmol naloxone administration in both feeding models, and some of the dogs vomited. In insulin-treated animals, CCK-8 reversed, but NPY potentiated the hypothermic phase of temperature response observed after saline administration, whereas naloxone failed to alter rectal temperature. These results suggest that the effect of CCK-8 on feeding seems to involve central mechanisms in the dog, and that the mechanisms by which CCK-8, NPY and naloxone affect feeding behavior are different.     

The role of some central catecholamine systems in cholecystokinin-induced satiety

Cholecystokinin (CCK), bombesin and gastrin were stereotaxically injected into catecholamine (CA) innervated areas of the lateral hypothalamus (LH), the nucleus caudatus putamen (NP) and the olfactory tubercle (OT) in male Sprague Dawley rats. Bilateral injections of 100 ng of CCK in 2 μl of vehicle into the LH produced a slight but significant decrease in food intake during the first hour of a 4 hour eating test. The other peptides when injected into any of the brain areas did not significantly alter food intake. Water intake was affected by the injection of all three hormones although differentially in all 3 sites. The observed changes in drinking were not related to the prandial characteristics of drinking typically seen in rodents. Denervation of the CA innervation of the OT, LH or NP with 6-hydroxydopamine did not change the satiety response to peripherally administered CCK displayed by intact animals. These results suggest that the satiety which occurs after the central and peripheral administration of CCK may be mediated by different mechanisms and that central CA systems may not be necessary for CCK-induced satiety to occur during natural feeding.     

Mechanism of actions of cholecystokinin octapeptide on food intake and insulin and pancreatic polypeptide release in the dog

We investigated the mechanism by which CCK-8 injected into the third cerebral ventricle (ITV administration) inhibits food intake and stimulates insulin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) secretion in the dog. ITV administration of CCK-8 (4.08 micrograms/5 min) resulted in a significant elevation of plasma insulin and PP concentrations. This effect was abolished by truncal vagotomy and promptly inhibited by ITV administration of atropine (20 micrograms) and proglumide (10 mg). CCK-8 was less effective in increasing insulin and PP concentrations than in reducing feeding. Thus, 1.36 micrograms of ITV CCK-8 markedly reduced food intake to 14, 15, 29 and 31% of control values at 10, 30, 60 and 120 min, respectively. Atropine and naloxone (50 micrograms) had no blocking effect on CCK-8-induced satiety, whereas proglumide antagonized it. These results indicate that ITV CCK-8 effects the endocrine pancreas and food intake through atropine-sensitive and atropine-insensitive mechanisms, respectively, both of which are likely to be mediated by CNS CCK receptors. Intravenous CCK-8 also stimulated PP and insulin release, through mechanisms that were atropine-sensitive and atropine-insensitive, respectively. However, its mode of action, especially on insulin secretion, was quite different from that of ITV CCK-8. Therefore, exogenous CCK appears to act in the brain and the periphery in concert with and independently from cholinergic systems.     

Change in CCK-8 response after diet-induced obesity and MC3/4-receptor blockade

Little is known regarding satiety effects of systemically administered cholecystokinin (CCK-8) in propensity or resistance to dietary-induced obesity (DIO), and of its effect under conditions of melanocortin-3/4R blockade. We found that CCK-8 exerted greater satiety effects in DIO-prone but not DIO-resistant rats, and this occurred only when the rats were placed on a high-fat (HF) diet, when DIO-prone rats failed to compensate for the greater energy density of the diet. CCK-8 also suppressed intake stimulated by melanocortin-3/4R antagonist, SHU9119, but only after 24h of increased feeding. This suggests that under both of these conditions, responsiveness to CCK's satiety effect is not so much affected by a HF diet or significant increases in body weight per se, but by a failure to rapidly limit food intake to that needed only for metabolic need. Identification of an early feeding mediator that is most strongly activated by a HF diet or by an acute challenge to energy homeostasis should provide an ideal anti-obesity target adjunct to CCK-8.     

The cholecystokinin antagonist,proglumide, increases food intake in the rat

Cholecystokinin, secreted in response to ingested food entering the duodenum, may play a role in limiting food intake. Inhibition of cholecystokinin should therefore induce an increase in food intake. Proglumide, a specific antagonist of cholecystokinin was used to block the satiety effect of a food preload in rats. A significant increase in food intake was obtained following proglumide injection, thus supporting the hypothesis that cholecystokinin, released by food in the duodenum, acts as a short-term satiety factor.     

Hypothalamic administration of cAMP agonist/PKA activator inhibits both schedule feeding and NPY-induced feeding in rats

Following central administration, neuropeptides that decrease the level of cAMP induce feeding. Conversely, cAMP activating neuropeptides tend to elicit satiety. When the inhibitory effect of neuropeptide Y (NPY) on the hypothalamic cAMP production was blocked by pertussis toxin, the potent orexigenic effect of NPY was lost. These findings suggest that there may be a link between hypothalamic cAMP and the central regulation of food intake. In this report, we show that the injection of the membrane-permeable cAMP agonist, adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate Sp-isomer (Sp-cAMP), into perifornical hypothalamus (PFH) significantly inhibited schedule-induced and NPY-induced food intake for up to 4h. This inhibitory effect was normalized within 24h. A taste aversion could not be conditioned to Sp-cAMP treatment, suggesting that the anorectic response was not due to malaise. Sp-cAMP administration significantly increased the active protein kinase A (PKA) activity in dorsomedial (DMH) and ventromedial (VMH), but not in lateral (LH) hypothalamus. Consistently, food deprivation lowered, while refeeding normalized endogenous cAMP content in DMH and VMH, but not in LH areas. No significant effect of adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate Rp-isomer (Rp-cAMP, cAMP antagonist) was observed on hypothalamic PKA activity, schedule-induced, or NPY-induced food intake. These findings suggest that the increase in cAMP level and PKA activity in DMH and VMH areas may trigger a satiety signal.     

Different peripheral and central antagonistic activity of new glutaramic acid derivatives on satiety induced by cholecystokinin in rats

New glutaramic acid derivatives with cholecystokinin antagonistic activity were evaluated for their capacity to inhibit the satiety effect induced in the rat by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8). The most active compound, CR 1409, is about 4000 times more potent than proglumide when injected peripherally (i.p.). This compound competitively inhibits the action of CCK-8 at the receptor responsible for the satiety effect. In contrast, CR 1409, i.p. or intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) injected does not exhibit antagonistic effects when CCK-8 is administered i.c.v., confirming the existence of at least two different populations of CCK receptors.     

Comparative effects of amylin and cholecystokinin on food intake and gastric emptying in rats

CCK is a physiological inhibitor of gastric emptying and food intake. The pancreatic peptide amylin exerts similar actions, yet its physiological importance is uncertain. Objectives were to compare the dose-dependent effects of intravenous infusion of amylin and CCK-8 on gastric emptying and food intake in rats, and to assess whether physiological doses of amylin are effective. Amylin and CCK-8 inhibited gastric emptying with mean effective doses (ED(50)s) of 3 and 35 pmol x kg(-1) x min(-1) and maximal inhibitions of 60 and 65%, respectively. Amylin and CCK-8 inhibited food intake with ED(50)s of 8 and 14 pmol x kg(-1) x min(-1) and maximal inhibitions of 78 and 69%, respectively. The minimal effective amylin dose for each effect was 1 pmol x kg(-1) x min(-1). Our previous work suggests that this dose increases plasma amylin by an amount comparable to that produced by a meal. These results support the hypothesis that amylin acts as a hormonal signal to the brain to inhibit gastric emptying and food intake and that amylin produces satiety in part through inhibition of gastric emptying.     

Proglumide fails to increase food intake after an ingested preload

Proglumide, a selective antagonist of exogenous cholecystokinin in vitro, also inhibits the reduction of food intake induced by the systemic administration of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) in food deprived rats. On the basis of an increase in the size of a brief test meal which followed an oral preload and treatment with a single dose of proglumide, it was suggested that a role for endogenous cholecystokinin in satiety had been demonstrated. We attempted to replicate this finding and could not under very similar experimental conditions. Subsequently, we tested whether other proglumide doses would antagonize the satiating effect of a larger oral preload on test meal intake. When these results were also found to be negative, we confirmed that proglumide (at several doses) significantly antagonized the reduction in food intake induced by exogenous CCK-8 under our conditions. Since proglumide antagonized the satiating effect of exogenous CCK-8, but did not increase food intake after oral preloads that were presumed to release endogenous CCK, we conclude that a reliable satiating effect of endogenous CCK remains to be demonstrated.     

Evidence that paraventricular nucleus oxytocin neurons link hypothalamic leptin action to caudal brain stem nuclei controlling meal size

Hindbrain projections of oxytocin neurons in the parvocellular paraventricular nucleus (pPVN) are hypothesized to transmit leptin signaling from the hypothalamus to the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), where satiety signals from the gastrointestinal tract are received. Using immunocytochemistry, we found that an anorectic dose of leptin administered into the third ventricle (3V) increased twofold the number of pPVN oxytocin neurons that expressed Fos. Injections of fluorescent cholera toxin B into the NTS labeled a subset of pPVN oxytocin neurons that expressed Fos in response to 3V leptin. Moreover, 3V administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist, [d-(CH2)5,Tyr(Me)2,Orn8]-vasotocin (OVT), attenuated the effect of leptin on food intake over a 0.5- to 4-h period (P < 0.05). Furthermore, to determine whether oxytocin contributes to leptin's potentiation of Fos activation within NTS neurons in response to CCK, we counted the number of Fos-positive neurons in the medial NTS (mNTS) after 3V administration of OVT before 3V leptin and intraperitoneal CCK-8 administration. OVT resulted in a significant 37% decrease (P < 0.05) in the potentiating effect of leptin on CCK activation of mNTS neuronal Fos expression. Furthermore, 4V OVT stimulated 2-h food intake by 43% (P < 0.01), whereas 3V OVT at the same dose was ineffective. These findings suggest that release of oxytocin from a descending pPVN-to-NTS pathway contributes to leptin's attenuation of food intake by a mechanism that involves the activation of pPVN oxytocin neurons by leptin, resulting in increased sensitivity of NTS neurons to satiety signals.     

CCK-resistance in Zucker obese versus lean rats

Obese Zucker rats are less sensitive to the satiety effect of CCK than lean litter mates. The present studies further characterised this CCK resistance. Subcutaneous injection of the CCK agonist caerulein dose-dependently decreased food intake in Zucker obese and lean rats whereas the CCK-B agonist gastrin-17 did not. Caerulein at 4 μg/kg, which resulted in CCK plasma bioactivity slightly above postprandial levels, decreased food intake in lean rats but not in obese rats. The decrease in food intake was also more marked at higher caerulein doses (20–100 μg/kg) in lean versus obese rats. In lean animals the satiety effects of the “near physiological” 4 μg/kg caerulein dose was abolished after blockade of vagal afferents with capsaicin, whereas the effects of higher caerulein doses were not. CCK-stimulated amylase secretion from pancreatic acini and binding capacity of ¹²⁵I- labelled CCK-8 were decreased in obese versus lean rats. The CCK-A antagonist loxiglumide at 20 mg/kg, a dose which abolished the action of all caerulein doses on food intake, failed to alter the food intake either in obese or in lean rats when given without an agonist. The results suggest that the satiety effects of “near physiological” doses of caerulein in lean rats are mediated by vagal afferents whereas pharmacological doses act via non-vagal mechanisms. The differences in CCK's satiety effect between lean and obese rats may be due to differences in CCK-receptor binding and action at peripheral vagal sites. However, the failure of the CCK-A antagonist to increase food intake questions whether any of the effects of exogenous CCK are of physiological relevance.     

Intracerebroventricular injections of cholecystokinin octapeptide suppress feeding in rats--pharmacological characterization of this action

Cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8), administered intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.), will suppress feeding. The aim of the present study was to determine the pharmacological characteristics of this satiety inducing effect in rats. For this purpose, we employed a feeding bioassay model in 24 h fasted rats and examined the effects of CCK-8 and a variety of structurally related analogs on latency to feed after i.c.v. injection and on the amount of food and water consumed as measured after the initiation of feeding in sequential 20-min epochs for 1 h. CCK-8, given in doses of 0.1, 1 and 10 nmol, produced a dose-dependent increase in feeding latency and a reduction of food intake during the first 20 min after initiation of feeding. Food intake during the next 40 min and water consumption were not altered. Plasma levels of CCK-like immunoreactivity after an i.c.v. injection of a dose of CCK-8 which blocked feeding (10 nmol) rose insignificantly from 117 to 125 pg/ml. In contrast, at the minimally effective dose of CCK-8 after i.v. administration (10 nmol), which also produced an inhibition of feeding, the plasma level was 1430 pg/ml. This difference indicates that plasma levels of CCK after i.c.v. CCK-8 are not adequate to produce the observed feeding suppression and suggests that the effects of i.c.v. CCK-8 are not mediated by a peripheral redistribution. Systematic dose response studies revealed the following rank order of potencies: CCK-8 greater than or equal to G-17 II much greater than CCK-8 NS = G-17 I greater than or equal to CCK-4 = CCK 26-29 = 0. Only gastrin-17 II (sulfated) produced an effect comparably significant to CCK-8. I.c.v. proglumide at 2500 nmol failed to modify the effects of CCK-8 at 10 nmol after i.c.v. injection. These data demonstrate that the structural requirements for feeding suppressive activity in rat brain are the carboxyterminus with a sulfated tyrosine residue, located 6 to 7 residues from the carboxyterminus, as present in CCK-8 and gastrin-17 II.