The current """"""""epidemic"""""""" of obesity is an increasing problem in societies world wide. The search for a long term treatment is an ongoing process with much focus to date on homeostatic factors, particularly in the hypothalamus. The proposed research is designed to address a possible interaction between the striatal acetylcholine system and opioid system with regard to food intake. Our preliminary results indicate that intrastriatal infusions of the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine produce a long-term reduction on food intake and a desensitization of opioid-induced feeding responses. In the current proposal, we will explore various behavioral and neuropharmacological parameters affected by scopolamine treatment. A time course study will be conducted to determine the duration of scopolamine anorexia and further experiments will examine scopolamine-induced alterations in different motivational states and modulation of other striatal neurotransmitter systems. In addition to these experiments, a pharmacokinetic study of scopolamine clearance from striatum will be performed along with neuropharmacological assays to assess the function of the opioid receptor inside the striatum. Relevance to public health: The work outlined in this proposal has the potential to identify a novel neuropharmacological pathway in the control of feeding. This could lead to new drugs for appetitive control, which could help alleviate the obesity epidemic.
| Perry, Michelle L; Pratt, Wayne E; Baldo, Brian A (2014) Overlapping striatal sites mediate scopolamine-induced feeding suppression and mu-opioid-mediated hyperphagia in the rat. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 231:919-28 |
| Perry, Michelle L; Andrzejewski, Matthew E; Bushek, Susan M et al. (2010) Intra-accumbens infusion of a muscarinic antagonist reduces food intake without altering the incentive properties of food-associated cues. Behav Neurosci 124:44-54 |
| Perry, Michelle L; Baldo, Brian A; Andrzejewski, Matthew E et al. (2009) Muscarinic receptor antagonism causes a functional alteration in nucleus accumbens mu-opiate-mediated feeding behavior. Behav Brain Res 197:225-9 |
