Similar feeding patterns are induced by perifornical neuropeptide Y injection and by food deprivation

Although hypothalamic injections of neuropeptide Y (NPY) induce robust feeding, there is little information about the patterns of feeding elicited by this peptide. To reveal these patterns, NPY (0, 8, 24, 78, 235 pmol/10 nl) was injected into the perifornical hypothalamus (PFH) of satiated adult male rats and their subsequent food intake was monitored every minute for 24 h. For comparison, feeding patterns were similarly observed following fasts of 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 h. The results demonstrated that NPY and food deprivation both produced dose- or deprivation-dependent increases in food intake that were most evident in the first 6 h. The increased intakes induced by NPY were characterized by combinations of increased meal size and frequency, with the predominant effects being increases in the size of and decreased latency to eat the first meal. Similarly, fasting progressively increased food intake by combinations of increased meal size and frequency, with the predominant effects being increases in the size of and decreased latency to eat the first meal. These similarities between NPY-induced and food deprivation-induced feeding are consistent with a stimulatory role for endogenous NPY in deprivation-induced feeding. These findings also suggest that NPY may increase eating by acting on mechanisms of both meal initiation and of meal termination.