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Effects of a High-Fat Diet and Strain on Hypothalamic Gene Expression in Rats |
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| Authors: | Andrea O. Schaffhauser Abram M. Madiehe Hugh D. Braymer George A. Bray David A. York Ph.D. |
| Affiliation: | 1. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana;2. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Abstract: | Objective: This study was designed to investigate whether dietary fat and genetic background might differentially alter the expression of hypothalamic genes involved in food intake. Research Methods and Procedures: Three-month-old Osborne-Mendel (OM) and S5B/Pl rats were fed either a high-fat or a low-fat diet for 14 days. mRNA for neuropeptide Y (NPY), corticotrophin-releasing hormone, NPY Y-1 receptor and Y-5 receptor, and serotonin 2c (5-HT2c) receptors were measured using Northern blotting or ribonuclease protection assays. Results: OM rats showed an increased expression of NPY and corticotrophin-releasing hormone compared with S5B/Pl rats. The expression of NPY-Y1 and -Y5 receptor mRNA was significantly higher in the hypothalamus of OM rats compared with S5B/Pl rats. The expression of 5HT-2c receptor mRNA was significantly reduced in both strains of rats eating a high-fat diet when compared with the animals eating the low-fat diet. Discussion: These data suggest that over activity of the NPY system may contribute to the development of obesity in OM rats and that expression of the 5HT-2c receptor gene may be modulated by dietary fat. |
| Keywords: | dietary obesity neuropeptide Y neuropeptide Y-1 neuropeptide Y-5 serotonin-2c receptor |