Peptide Tyrosine Tyrosine 3-36 Reduces Meal Size and Activates the Enteric Neurons in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats

Peptide tyrosine tyrosine 3-36 (peptide YY 3-36 or PYY 3-36) reduces food intake by unknown site(s).

To test the hypothesis that the gastrointestinal tract contains sites of action regulating meal size (MS) and intermeal interval (IMI) length by PYY 3-36.

Peptide YY 3-36 (0, 1, 5, 10 and 20 nmol/kg) was injected in the aorta, the artery that supplies the gastrointestinal tract, prior to the onset of the dark cycle in free feeding male Sprague-Dawley rats and food intake was measured. Then, PYY 3-36 (25 nmol/kg) was injected intraperitoneally in these rats and Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI, a marker for neuronal activation) was quantified in the small intestinal enteric neurons, both myenteric and submucosal, and the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) of the hindbrain.

PYY 3-36 reduced first MS, decreased IMI length, shortened duration of first meal and increased Fos-LI in enteric and DVC neurons. However, PYY 3-36 failed to change the size of the second meal, satiety ratio, latency to first meal, number of meals and 24 h intake relative to saline control.

The gastrointestinal tract may contain sites of action regulating MS reduction by PYY 3-36.