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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Using the Activity-based Anorexia Rodent Model to Study the Neurobiological Basis of Anorexia Nervosa
Published on: October 22, 2015
The cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716 blocks the orexigenic effects of intrahypothalamic ghrelin
Sonia A Tucci1, Elizabeth K Rogers, Marta Korbonits
1School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA.
Abstract:
The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus plays a key role in the control of appetite and energy balance. Both ghrelin and cannabinoid receptor agonists increase food intake when administered into this nucleus: this study investigated possible interactions between the two systems in relation to eating. The orexigenic effect of ghrelin (100 pmol) when infused in to the PVN was reversed by a small, systemic dose of the CB(1) cannabinoid receptor antagonist SR141716 (1 mg kg(-1)). This is the first demonstration of a functional relationship between brain ghrelin and endocannabinoid systems, and, although it needs to be further investigated, the effect of ghrelin on food intake when injected into the PVN seems to be mediated by stimulation of cannabinoid release.
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