Intake inhibition by NPY: role of appetitive ingestive behavior and aversion

Intraventricular infusion of neuropeptide Y (NPY) decreases the amount female rats ingest during intraoral infusion (consummatory behavior) of a 1-M solution of sucrose at a rate of 0.5 ml/min and simultaneously increases the number of times the rats visit a bottle filled with sucrose (appetitive behavior). In this study, we investigated if the suppression of consummatory behavior was dependent upon the increase of appetitive behavior. The shift from consummatory to appetitive ingestive behavior was attenuated by adding 3-mM quinine HCl (QHCl) to the sucrose solution in the bottle. However, the intraoral intake of the sucrose solution was still decreased in NPY-treated rats. NPY did not modify taste reactivity as measured by aversive responses during continuous intraoral infusion of sucrose or ingestive and aversive responses to brief intraoral infusion of sucrose (0, 0.3 or 1 M) or QHCl (0, 0.3 or 3 mM). NPY stimulated visits to a bottle and intake from the bottle and inhibited sexual behavior in male rats but had no effect on the sexual behavior in the absence of a bottle. The visits and the intake were suppressed, but sexual behavior was not activated by adding QHCl (3 mM) to the solution in the bottle. Obstructing appetitive ingestive behavior, therefore, does not indiscriminately facilitate consummatory behavior. Male rats showed aversive or ingestive behavior and sexual behavior simultaneously during intraoral infusion of QHCl or condensed milk. It is suggested that NPY decreases intraoral intake and increases appetitive ingestive behavior via partially separable mechanisms that are independent of taste aversion.