The serotonergic agent fluoxetine reduces neuropeptide Y levels and neuropeptide Y secretion in the hypothalamus of lean and obese rats

Evidence suggests that serotonin and neuropeptide Y neurons in the hypothalamus, which respectively inhibit and stimulate food intake, may interact to control energy homoeostasis. We therefore investigated the effects of fluoxetine, which inhibits serotonin reuptake, on food intake and the activity of the neuropeptide Yergic arcuato-paraventricular projection in lean Wistar and Zucker rats. We also studied its effects in obese Zucker rats, in which obesity is postulated to be due to overactivity of the arcuato-paraventricular projection. Fluoxetine significantly reduced food intake in lean and obese rats, both during continuous subcutaneous infusion and (10 mg/kg/day for seven days) and acutely after a single injection (10 mg/kg). Fluoxetine also significantly reduced neuropeptide Y levels in the paraventricular nucleus, a major site of neuropeptide Y release which is highly sensitive to the appetite-stimulating actions of neuropeptide Y. Rush-pull sampling in lean and fatty Zucker rats showed that neuropeptide Y secretion in the paraventricular nucleus was significantly reduced after acute fluoxetine treatment. Furthermore, seven days fluoxetine treatment prevented the significant increases in hypothalamic neuropeptide Y messenger RNA which were induced in lean rats by food restriction which precisely matched the hypophagia induced by the drug. We conclude that fluoxetine inhibits various aspects of the activity of the neuropeptide Yergic arcuato-paraventricular neurons, and suggest that reduced neuropeptide Y release in the paraventricular nucleus may mediate, al least in part, the drug's hypophagic action. We further suggest that serotonin may influence food intake and energy balance by inhibiting the arcuato-paraventricular projection, and that the two neurotransmitters may act together to regulate Feeding and energy homoeostasis.