Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Mar;144(3):760-6.
doi: 10.1210/en.2002-220866.

Proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides in rat cerebrospinal fluid and hypothalamic extracts: evidence that secretion is regulated with respect to energy balance

Affiliations

Proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides in rat cerebrospinal fluid and hypothalamic extracts: evidence that secretion is regulated with respect to energy balance

Lynn E Pritchard et al. Endocrinology. 2003 Mar.

Abstract

Regulation of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is an important means of controlling the central melanocortin system. It has never been established whether the spectrum of POMC-derived peptides synthesized and secreted from the hypothalamus is altered in response to changes in energy homeostasis in vivo. To monitor secretion, we analyzed peptide content of rat cerebrospinal fluid. Strikingly, both the POMC precursor and ACTH were readily detected. Moreover, levels of both were lower in samples from obese Zucker rats (fa/fa) vs. lean Zucker rats (+/+, fa/+) and from fasted vs. fed rats, whereas alpha MSH could not be detected. POMC levels were also decreased in hypothalamic extracts from obese and fasted animals. In contrast, despite being the most predominant peptide in extracts, alpha MSH levels were not significantly changed in any of the rat models. The ratio of precursor to derived peptides in cerebrospinal fluid was significantly higher in obese vs. lean and fed vs. fasted rats, indicating that secretion of POMC-derived peptides is differentially down-regulated during negative energy balance. In contrast to peptide analysis, we found that POMC gene expression was not significantly decreased in fasted rat hypothalami. We conclude that regulation of peptide secretion is an important mechanism by which the POMC system is controlled.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources