The central role of melatonin in Danio rerio appetite regulation
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1
Polytechnic University of Marche, Department of Marine Sciences, Italy
Melatonin is the hormonal mediator of photoperiodic information to the central nervous system in vertebrates and allows the regulation of energy homeostasis through the establishment of a proper balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of melatonin in the regulation of feeding behavior in the zebrafish Danio rerio. For this purpose, the effect of two different melatonin doses (100 nM and 1µM) administered for ten days via water to zebrafish adults was evaluated at both physiological and molecular level and the effect of melatonin was considered in relation to the most prominent systems involved in appetite regulation. The melatonin control of food intake by the modulation of leptin, MC4R, ghrelin, NPY and CB1 gene expression was evaluated.
The results obtained indicate that melatonin significantly reduces food intake and the reduction is in agreement with the changes observed at the molecular level. A significant increase in genes codifying for molecules involved in feeding inhibition, such as leptin and MC4R, and a significant reduction in the major orexigenic signals including ghrelin, NPY and CB1 was demonstrated.
These results support the idea that melatonin falls fully into the complex network of signals that regulate food intake and therefore this hormone plays a key role in central appetite regulation.
Keywords:
comparative endocrinology
Conference:
25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists, Pécs, Hungary, 31 Aug - 4 Sep, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Conference Presentation
Topic:
Comparative endocrinology
Citation:
Migliarini
B,
Piccinetti
CC,
Olivotto
I and
Carnevali
O
(2010). The central role of melatonin in Danio rerio appetite regulation.
Front. Endocrinol.
Conference Abstract:
25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fendo.2010.01.00014
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Received:
26 Aug 2010;
Published Online:
29 Aug 2010.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Beatrice Migliarini, Polytechnic University of Marche, Department of Marine Sciences, Ancona, Italy, b.migliarini@univpm.it