The role of central 5-HT2C and NMDA receptors on LPS-induced feeding behavior in chickens

Abstract

In mammals, LPS regulate feeding primarily through the 5-HT2c and 5-HT2c receptors within the brain. However, the central effect of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2c on LPSinduced feeding behavior has not been studied in nonmammalian species. Also, the role of glutamatergic system in LPS-induced anorexia has never been examined in either mammalian or non-mammalian species. Therefore, in this study, we examined the role of serotonergic and glutamatergic systems on LPS-induced anorexia in chickens. Food intake was measured in chickens after centrally administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (20 ng) (0 h), followed by intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of the 5-HT1A autoreceptor agonist (8-OH-DPAT, 61 nmol), 5-HT2c receptor antagonist (SB 242084, 30 nm), and NMDA receptor antagonist (DL-AP5, 5 nm) at the onset of anorexia (4 h). In the following experiments, we used DL-AP5 before 5-HT (10 μg) and SB242084 before glutamate (300 nm) for evaluation of the interaction between 5-HTergic and glutamatergic systems on food intake. The results of this study showed that SB 242084 and DL-AP5 significantly attenuated food intake reduction caused by LPS (P<0.05) but 8-OH-DPAT had no effect. In addition, 5-HT-induced anorexia was significantly attenuated by DL-AP5 pretreatment (P<0.05), while SB 242084 had no effect on glutamate-induced hypophagia. These results indicated that 5-HT and glutamate (via 5-HT 2c and NMDA receptor, respectively) dependently regulate LPS-induced hypophagia in chickens. © The Physiological Society of Japan and Springer 2012.