Drug Design, Development and Therapy (Oct 2016)
Intracerebroventricular urocortin 3 counteracts central acyl ghrelin-induced hyperphagic and gastroprokinetic effects via CRF receptor 2 in rats
Abstract
Chun Yeh,1 Ching-Heng Ting,2 Ming-Luen Doong,3 Chin-Wen Chi,4,5 Shou-Dong Lee,1 Chih-Yen Chen6–8 1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital, 2Department of Pathology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, 3Institute of Physiology, 4Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, 5Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 6Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 7Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, 8Taiwan Association for the Study of Small Intestinal Diseases, Guishan, Taiwan Purpose: Urocortin 3 is a key neuromodulator in the regulation of stress, anxiety, food intake, gut motility, and energy homeostasis, while ghrelin elicits feeding behavior and enhances gastric emptying, adiposity, and positive energy balance. However, the interplays between urocortin 3 and ghrelin on food intake and gastric emptying remain uninvestigated.Methods: We examined the differential effects of central O-n-octanoylated ghrelin, des-Gln14-ghrelin, and urocortin 3 on food intake, as well as on charcoal nonnutrient semiliquid gastric emptying in conscious rats that were chronically implanted with intracerebroventricular (ICV) catheters. The functional importance of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor 2 in urocortin 3-induced responses was examined by ICV injection of the selective CRF receptor 2 antagonist, astressin2-B.Results: ICV infusion of urocortin 3 opposed central acyl ghrelin-elicited hyperphagia via CRF receptor 2 in satiated rats. ICV injection of O-n-octanoylated ghrelin and des-Gln14-ghrelin were equally potent in accelerating gastric emptying in fasted rats, whereas ICV administration of urocortin 3 delayed gastric emptying. In addition, ICV infusion of urocortin 3 counteracted central acyl ghrelin-induced gastroprokinetic effects via CRF receptor 2 pathway.Conclusion: ICV-infused urocortin 3 counteracts central acyl ghrelin-induced hyperphagic and gastroprokinetic effects via CRF receptor 2 in rats. Our results clearly showed that enhancing ghrelin and blocking CRF receptor 2 signaling in the brain accelerated gastric emptying, which provided important clues for a new therapeutic avenue in ameliorating anorexia and gastric ileus found in various chronic wasting disorders. Keywords: corticotropin-releasing factor receptor, des-Gln14-ghrelin, food intake, gastric emptying, intracerebroventricular, urocortin 3
