Endocrine Abstracts

Cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide with a role in the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) in rodents. However, the role of pituitary CART is poorly understood. Previous work in rodents has shown pituitary CART is regulated by corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and glucocorticoids. CRH increased pituitary CART release fifteen-fold. Adrenalectomised rats had significantly higher pituitary CART mRNA expression, pituitary CA...

Obesity is a life-threatening, yet common condition that often lies at the root of other serious illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other neuroendocrine disorders. The central nervous system signalling pathways regulating food intake are complex and the precise mechanisms remain to be determined. Cocaine- and amphetamine- regulated transcript (CART) is a CNS neuropeptide involved in the regulation of feeding.Development of a two-site immunometric assay ...

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been used to express GFP in a variety of tissues. AAV has a tropism for neurones and we have been using AAV-GFP to determine the anatomical localisation of gene transfer after injection into the hypothalami of Wistar rats. The long term aim is to use this viral vector as a tool for investigating the hypothalamic control of appetite, energy expenditure and pituitary function.Male Wistar rats were anaesthetised and injecte...

Kisspeptin is the peptide product of the KiSS-1 gene and endogenous agonist for the GPR54 receptor. The kisspeptin/GPR54 system has recently been suggested as a key regulator of the reproductive system. GPR54 deficient mice have abnormal sexual development and low circulating gonadotrophins and in humans, GPR54 mutations have been shown to cause hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Thus, GPR54 appears to be essential for normal gonadotrophin secretion and the regulation of puberty....

The peptides, cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART), alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) are present in the circulation and may act as peripheral anorectic signals. CART, alpha-MSH and GLP-1 may play a role in tumour anorexia, but their roles in anorexia nervosa (AN) are unknown. These studies aimed firstly to measure plasma CART, alpha-MSH and GLP-1 in control and AN subjects and secondly, to measure plasma CART ...

Cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) was originally isolated from rat brain but CART is also synthesized and stored in the anterior pituitary. The localisation and factors regulating pituitary CART synthesis are largely unknown.Using a specific assay for the pituitary form of CART, CART(55-102), CART-immunoreactivity was detectable in the medium of the corticotroph cell line, AtT-20 (1.73 ± 0.54 fmols per millilitre per 24h) but not in control medium....

CGRP-alpha is a 37 amino acid peptide generated by alternative splicing of calcitonin gene transcripts. CGRP-alpha is present in a number of areas of the brain involved in the regulation of appetite, including the PVN. CGRP(8-37) is a competitive antagonist of CGRP-alpha at the CGRP-type 1 receptor. CGRP-alpha is known to inhibit food intake when given intracerebroventricularly, but the anatomical localisation of this effect is not known. Aims To investigate the effects of CGR...

Galainin-like peptide (GALP) is a recently identified hypothalamic neuropeptide expressed in the arcuate nucleus. It is structurally related to galanin, GALP amino acid residues 9-21 are identical to the N terminal 1-13 residues of galanin. GALP binds to galanin receptors with high affinity but has greatest affinity to the GAL R2 receptor. Galanin has previously been demonstrated to significantly increase food intake when administered into the third ventricle or the paraventri...

The hypothalamic peptide, cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) was originally reported to act as an anorexigenic peptide. However, we have recently shown that CART injection into the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), acutely stimulates food intake. Here, we characterise the role of arcuate nucleus CART in the long term regulation of food intake and brown adipose tissue (BAT) using i) repeated intra-arcuate injection of CART peptide [CART(55-102)] and ii) polye...

Background: Military personnel on operational deployment commonly lose weight despite the adequate supply of rations. Moderate weight loss (~5% body mass) occurred during the initial phase of a 6-month deployment to Afghanistan without affecting physical fitness. Reasons for this weight loss are presently unknown. We sought to establish whether changes in appetite regulatory hormones contribute to the observed weight loss.Methods: Body mass and body comp...