THE EFFECT OF CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OF PROLACTIN ON FOOD-INTAKE IN VIRGIN FEMALE RATS IS DOSE-DEPENDENT, OCCURS IN THE ABSENCE OF OVARIAN HORMONES AND THE LATENCY TO ONSET VARIES WITH FEEDING REGIMEN
D. Sauve et B. Woodside, THE EFFECT OF CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OF PROLACTIN ON FOOD-INTAKE IN VIRGIN FEMALE RATS IS DOSE-DEPENDENT, OCCURS IN THE ABSENCE OF OVARIAN HORMONES AND THE LATENCY TO ONSET VARIES WITH FEEDING REGIMEN, Brain research, 729(1), 1996, pp. 75-81
Lactation in mammals is characterized by a marked hyperphagia and sign
ificantly elevated levels of prolactin (PRL). Several recent experimen
ts in our laboratory have provided evidence for a causal relationship
between PRL and hyperphagia. The present series of studies revealed th
at PRL injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) twice daily for ten
days to free feeding virgin female rats produced a dose-dependent inc
rease in food intake without disrupting vaginal cyclicity, that the hy
perphagic effect of centrally administered PRL was not dependent on th
e presence of ovarian hormones, that it did not selectively potentiate
feeding during the light or dark phase of the daily light cycle and t
hat the latency of the feeding response to i.c.v. PRL administration w
as shorter in food restricted animals. Taken together, these results s
upport the idea that PRL acts centrally to potentiate food intake.