Feeding induced by cannabinoids is mediated independently of the melanocortin system

• Published in: PloS one 2008-05, Vol.3 (5), p.e2202-e2202
• Main Authors: Sinnayah, Puspha, Jobst, Erin E, Rathner, Joseph A, Caldera-Siu, Angela D, Tonelli-Lemos, Luciana, Eusterbrock, Aaron J, Enriori, Pablo J, Pothos, Emmanuel N, Grove, Kevin L, Cowley, Michael A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amperometry; Amphetamines; Animal behavior; Animal cognition; Animals; Appetite; Brain; c-Fos protein; Cannabinoid CB1 receptors; Cannabinoids; Cannabinoids - pharmacology; Cannabis; Circuits; Clinical trials; Dopamine; Dopamine receptors; Drug abuse; Electrical measurement; Energy balance; Feeding; Feeding Behavior - drug effects; Food; Fos protein; Genotypes; Hypothalamus; Hypothalamus - drug effects; Hypothalamus - physiology; Immunohistochemistry; Laboratory animals; Male; Marijuana; Mediation; Melanocortin; Melanocortins - physiology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Narcotics; Neural circuitry; Neurochemistry; Neurons; Neuroscience; Neuroscience/Behavioral Neuroscience; Neuroscience/Neural Homeostasis; Neurosciences; Nucleus accumbens; Obesity; Phenols (Class of compounds); Physiology/Neural Homeostasis; Psychopharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reinforcement; Rodents; Science; Type 2 diabetes; Ventral tegmentum; Weight control; Weight loss
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002202

Cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, stimulate appetite, and cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1-R) antagonists suppress appetite and promote weight loss. Little is known about how CB1-R antagonists affect the central neurocircuitry, specifically the melanocortin system that regulates energy balance. Here, we show that peripherally administered CB1-R antagonist (AM251) or agonist equally suppressed or stimulated feeding respectively in A(y) , which lack a functional melanocortin system, and wildtype mice, demonstrating that cannabinoid effects on feeding do not require melanocortin circuitry. CB1-R antagonist or agonist administered into the ventral tegmental area (VTA) equally suppressed or stimulated feeding respectively, in both genotypes. In addition, peripheral and central cannabinoid administration similarly induced c-Fos activation in brain sites suggesting mediation via motivational dopaminergic circuitry. Amperometry-detected increases in evoked dopamine (DA) release by the CB1-R antagonist in nucleus accumbens slices indicates that AM251 modulates DA release from VTA terminals. Our results demonstrate that the effects of cannabinoids on energy balance are independent of hypothalamic melanocortin circuitry and is primarily driven by the reward system.