ENDOTHELIN-C-TERMINAL HEXAPEPTIDE INCREASES GROOMING IN MICE

Grooming behavior has been considered a response to stress, and a numb er of stress-related peptides have been demonstrated to modulate groom ing behavior. In the experiments reported here, endothelin-C-terminal hexapeptide containing amino acid residues 16-21, ET[16-21], increased grooming with a maximum effect at 0.75 mu g. ET[16-21] did not signif icantly alter eating or locomotor behavior. Both alpha-helical CRF (10 mu g) and neuropeptide Y (1 mu g) inhibited the grooming produced by ET[16-21].