Galanin receptor antagonists decrease fat preference in Brattleboro rat

The Brattleboro rat eats spontaneously 46% of its diet per day in fat when given a choice of carbohydrate, protein and fat. An overexpression of galanin (GAL) has been also observed in the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei (PVN). This associative correlation has led to a hypothesis of a functional relation between central galanin expression and the preference for a lipid diet. In the present experiments. the effects of two GAL receptor antagonists, C7 and galantide. on fat consumption and central overexpression of GAL were investigated. Both antagonists were injected into either the cerebral ventricles or directly above the PVN, and the diet consumption followed for the subsequent 24 h. C7 decreased significantly fat consumption when injected into the ventricles or directly above the PVN. In contrast. galantide must be injected above the PVN to show the same effect. However, the two antagonists did not modify GAL mRNA expression in the PVN when they were injected 2 h before sacrifice. These experiments confirm a functional link between the preferential consumption of fat and hypothalamic Galanin: different subtypes of the GAL receptor are probably involved, since both Galanin antagonists were differently efficient in decreasing spontaneous fat selection of the Brattleboro rat. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.