Brain histamine and feeding behavior

Food intake is regulated by many endogenous substances, such as peptides an d neurotransmitters. in the central nervous system. Based on the clinical o bservation that some antidepressants and antipsychotics with antihistaminic activity stimulate food intake and increase body weight, histamine has bee n thought to be an anorectic agent. Several lines of evidence suggest that histamine decreases food intake via H-1-receptors (H1R) at least in the ven tromedial hypothalamus or the paraventricular nucleus. Recently, mutant mic e lacking H1R were generated and the interaction between the histaminergic system and leptin-induced suppression of food intake was evidenced by using these mice. In regulating food intake, histamine is indicated to functiona lly associate with neuropeptide Y, peptide YY, and bombesin. However, the q uestion remained as to why the circadian variation in the level of histamin e is inversely correlated to the pattern of feeding. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie nce B.V. All rights reserved.