A comparative proteomic analysis of the rat brain during rebound hyperphagia induced by space-restriction

Although neurochemical changes have been reported in the brain in animal models of binge eating, biochemical changes of specific proteins in the brain are unknown. Our aim was to elucidate brain proteins altered in rats during enhanced rebound hyperphargia. Rats were deprived of food for 22 h/day for 6 days, then allowed free access to food for 24 h in normal cages (rebound hyperphargia) or in space-restricted cages (enhanced rebound hyperphargia). Proteins extracted from the rat brain were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and compared with those from control rats freely fed for 7 days in normal cages. Proteins expressed differently from controls were identified by N-terminal amino acid sequencing and mass fingerprinting using a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. Among proteins in the corpus striatum, frontal lobe, hippocampus and thalamus/hypothalamus, ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 and peroxiredoxin 2 decreased in the hippocampus and phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein increased in the thalamus/hypothalamus of rats with the enhanced rebound hyperphargia induced by space-restriction. In this study, we first demonstrated that three brain proteins changed in rats during enhanced rebound hyperphagia. These proteins might have pathophysiologic relevance to binge eating. (Mol Cell Biochem 276: 21–29, 2005)