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Endocrinology Vol. 141, No. 4 1332-1337
Copyright © 2000 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

The Role of the Dorsal Vagal Complex and the Vagus Nerve in Feeding Effects of Melanocortin-3/4 Receptor Stimulation1

Diana L. Williams, Joel M. Kaplan and Harvey J. Grill

Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Diana L. Williams, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. E-mail: dianaw{at}psych.upenn.edu


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Fourth intracerebroventricular (4th-icv) administration of the melanocortin-3/4 receptor (MC3/4-R) agonist, MTII, reduces food intake; the antagonist, SHU9119, increases feeding. The dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMX) contains the highest density of MC4-R messenger RNA in the brain. To explore the possibility that the DMX contributes to 4th-icv MC4-R effects, we delivered doses of MTII and SHU9119 that are subthreshold for ventricular response unilaterally through a cannula centered above the DMX. MTII markedly suppressed 2-h (50%), 4-h (50%), and 24-h (33%) intake. Feeding was significantly increased 4 h (50%) and 24 h (20%) after SHU9119 injections. These results suggest that receptors in the DMX, or the dorsal vagal complex more generally, underlie effects obtained with 4th-icv administration of these ligands. We investigated possible vagal mediation of 4th-icv MTII effects by giving the agonist to rats with subdiaphragmatic vagotomy. MTII suppressed 2-, 4-, and 24-h liquid diet intake (~80%) to the same extent in vagotomized and surgical control rats. We conclude that stimulation or antagonism of MC3/4-Rs in the dorsal vagal complex yields effects on food intake that do not require an intact vagus nerve.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
INCREASING EVIDENCE implicates central nervous system melanocortin-4 receptors (MC4-Rs) in the control of food intake and body weight. Similar obese phenotypes (maturity-onset obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperglycemia) are exhibited by the Agouti mouse, which expresses the MC4-R antagonist agouti protein ectopically in the brain; transgenic mice expressing abnormally high levels of agouti-related protein, an endogenous antagonist of MC3/4-Rs; and the MC4-R knockout mouse (MC4-RKO) (1, 2, 3). Further support for the feeding relevance of MC4-Rs has been provided by pharmacological studies. In mice and rats, forebrain intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of a MC3/4-R agonist, MTII, suppresses food intake (4, 5, 6), an effect not seen in MC4-RKOs (7). Administration of the selective MC4-R antagonist, HS014, or the MC3/4-R antagonists, SHU9119 or agouti-related protein-(83–132), yields increases in intake (5, 8, 9). The antagonist effects are consistent with the suggestion that the endogenous MC system plays a role in the normal physiology of intake and body weight control.

The majority of studies on the MC system have focused on the hypothalamus (4, 6, 10). Anatomical evidence, however, clearly indicates that potentially relevant components of the MC system are present in the hindbrain. POMC, the precursor to the endogenous MC4-R agonist, {alpha}MSH, is produced in only two locations in the brain: the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and the commissural nucleus of the solitary tract (cNTS) (11). Importantly, immunoreactivity for {alpha}MSH itself has been demonstrated in the cNTS (12). In addition, MC3/4-Rs in the cNTS and in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMX) were demonstrated in a binding study using the high affinity ligand, Nle4,D-Phe7-{alpha}MSH (13). The DMX, in fact, expresses the highest density of MC4-R messenger RNA (mRNA) in the brain, whereas weak expression is found in the medial NTS (14). The functional relevance of hindbrain MC3/4-Rs to feeding and body weight control was suggested in a recent report in which dose-dependent decreases or increases in feeding and body weight were obtained upon fourth intracerbroventricular (4th-icv) administration of MTII or SHU9119, respectively (5). The response to 4th-icv delivery of these ligands was no weaker than that obtained upon lateral icv delivery.

The high MC4-R mRNA density in the DMX and the proximity of this nucleus to the fourth ventricle are consistent with the suggestion that receptors within the DMX, or in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC; including the DMX and NTS) more generally, at least partially mediate the effects of 4th-icv MTII and SHU9119. One aim of the present study was to explore this suggestion by delivery of MTII and SHU9119 unilaterally into the DVC at doses subthreshold for 4th-icv response.

The second aim of the present work is to investigate the possibility that an intact vagus nerve is required for the anorexic effect of 4th-icv MTII. One would expect that vagotomized (VX) rats will not show a 4th-icv MTII effect if, in fact, the receptors on DMX motor neurons represent the substrate for the response. Indeed, the efferent branch of the vagus nerve is the only known output pathway for motor neurons in that nucleus. A reversal of the 4th-icv effect with vagotomy would be consistent with but would not prove that DMX mediates MTII effects on intake. The integrity of vagus nerve may also be necessary for feeding effects obtained upon stimulation of receptors located some distance from the vagal complex. An appropriate example is the reversal by vagotomy of the hyperphagia obtained when norepinephrine is delivered lateral-icv or to the paraventricular nucleus (15, 16). In this report, we evaluate the effects of subdiaphragmatic vagotomy on the intake and body weight effects obtained independently from 4th- and lateral-icv injection of MTII. Vagal mediation of the effects resulting from stimulation of different MC4-R populations would be supported if vagotomy blocks responses evoked from both ventricles. Alternately, vagotomy could block responses from one ventricle but not affect the response of the other. The suggestion that the DMX itself mediates icv MTII effects would be challenged if vagotomy had no effect on the response from either ventricle.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Subjects
Male Sprague Dawley rats (Charles River Laboratories, Inc., Wilmington, MA) were housed in hanging stainless steel cages in a room under a 12-h light, 12-h dark cycle. In Exp 1, pelleted food (Ralston Purina Co., St. Louis, MO) and water were available ad libitum. The VX and sham-operated rats in Exp 2 were maintained on liquid diet (equal parts sweetened condensed milk and water with iron and Poly-Vi-Sol, Mead Johnson, Evansville, IN, vitamins), and water was available ad libitum (17). All procedures conformed to institutional standards for animal care.

Intraparenchymal and icv cannulation
Guide cannulas (Plastics One, Roanoke, VA) were implanted 2.0 mm above injection sites of naive rats under ketamine (90 mg/kg) and xylazine (15 mg/kg im) anesthesia. For Exp 1, intraparenchymal cannulas (26 gauge) were placed above the right DVC, 13.8 mm posterior to bregma, 0.8 mm lateral to the midline, and 3.7 mm dorsal to the interaural line. For Exp 2, icv cannulas (22 gauge) were implanted above the lateral and fourth ventricles. Placement for the lateral ventricle cannula was 0.9 mm posterior to bregma, 1.5 mm lateral to the midline, and 2.0 mm below the dura; fourth ventricle cannula placement was 2.5 mm anterior to the occipital suture, on the midline, and 4.5 mm below the dura. Cannulas were cemented to four jewelers screws attached to the skull and were closed with obturators. The rats recovered in their home cages for at least 5 days while daily food intake and body weight were recorded.

Injections
For intraparenchymal injection, MTII and SHU9119 (Phoenix, Belmont, CA) were dissolved in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF). A 33-gauge injector 2 mm longer than the guide cannula was inserted, and a 0.5-µl volume of MTII, SHU9119, or aCSF was infused over 5 min using a microsyringe pump (Harvard Apparatus, Natick, MA). The injector was removed after another minute. For icv injection, MTII was prepared by dissolving the peptide in deoxygenated distilled water. A 23-gauge injector 2 mm longer than the guide cannula was inserted, and a 3-µl volume of MTII or saline was injected over 3 min using a Hamilton microsyringe (Reno, NV). The injector was left in place for another minute before removal. All injections took place an average of 30 min before the beginning of the dark cycle.

Verification of cannula placement
Parenchymal placements were verified by injecting 0.5 µl India ink 1.5 mm below the drug injection site just before transcardial perfusion with saline followed by 10% formalin. Brains were then removed and postfixed in a 10% sucrose-formalin solution. Fifty-micron sections were cut in the coronal plane and then stained with cresyl violet. Where possible, the presence of gliosis was used to reconstruct injector placement. In some cases, glial damage was not apparent or not determined; in these cases injector placement was assessed in relation to the dye reference (see Fig. 1Go). Only those data for animals that were verifiably injected into the DVC are discussed here. The icv cannula placement was evaluated after recovery from surgery by measuring a sympathetically mediated increase in plasma glucose after icv injection of 210 µg 5-thio-D-glucose in 3 µl saline (18). Only rats that showed at least a doubling of plasma glucose level in response to this treatment were used in experiments.



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Figure 1. DVC injection placements. The centers of injections are represented by black dots. Placements shown were between -13.30 and -13.70 mm from bregma (34 ). One rat’s placement was was about 1 mm anterior to this plane, in the medial NTS, whereas those of two others were about 0.5 mm posterior to this, in the lateral NTS. AP, Area postrema; 12, hypoglossal nucleus; sol, solitary tract.

 
Exp 1: effects of MTII and SHU9119 delivered to the DVC
Experimental procedures. Rats were given 1 injection of aCSF vehicle (0.5 µl) before the start of the experiment. All 13 animals were given 0.01 nmol MTII or aCSF vehicle, in counterbalanced order, separated by 72 h. Ten rats were then given 0.0625 nmol SHU9119 or aCSF vehicle according to the same design. It has been demonstrated that 0.01 nmol MTII given icv does not affect intake or body weight (5). Pilot studies in our laboratory found that 0.0625 nmol SHU9119 injected icv was without effect on intake or body weight. Injections during each phase were performed in counterbalanced order, separated by 72 h. Postinjection food and water intakes at 2, 4, 24, 48, and 72 h were obtained by subtracting the weights of pellet hoppers and water bottles at those intervals from their weights at the time of injection. Body weight was also measured daily.

Statistical analysis. Data were analyzed with Student’s t tests, comparing drug and vehicle values for feeding, drinking, and body weight. Significance at the 0.05 level was evaluated with one-tailed tests given the direction of effects reported in the literature for MTII and SHU9119.

Exp 2: fourth icv MTII effects in intact and VX animals
Vagotomy. After cannula placement verification, six rats were anesthetized with ketamine-xylazine, and the trunks of the subdiaphragmatic vagus were transected. A midline abdominal incision was made, and the dorsal and ventral branches of the vagus nerve were dissected from the esophagus. Each branch of the nerve was tied with surgical suture at two points separated by approximately 1 cm, and then cauterized between the sutures. Sham surgeries were also performed (n = 5), in which each trunk of the nerve was exposed, but not tied or cauterized. The incision was then closed, and rats were allowed to recover for at least 1 week until liquid diet intake stabilized. After the experiment, vagotomies were functionally verified with a test of short term liquid diet intake after cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK8; Bachem, Torrance, CA) treatment. Intake suppression after CCK8 requires an intact vagus nerve (19). For this test, rats were restricted to 15 ml liquid diet overnight (~30% of the average 24-h intake), and then injected with CCK8 (4 µg/kg, ip) or saline in counterbalanced order. Liquid diet was made available 5 min after injections, and intake was recorded at 15 and 30 min. A lack of response to CCK8 by VX rats was taken as verification of subdiaphragmatic vagotomies.

Methods. After recovery from surgery, animals were given icv saline vehicle (3 µl) to habituate them to the injection procedure. The experiment began when liquid diet intake was stable. Four injection conditions, 1 nmol MTII [a dose that substantially affects intake and body weight (5)] and vehicle injections in the fourth and lateral ventricles, were separated by 72 h and counterbalanced across rats. After injections, at the onset of the dark cycle, rats were given ad libitum access to liquid diet in graduated tubes hung on the cage. The initial volume was recorded, and intake at 2, 4, and 24 h postinjection was determined by reading the volume in the tube at that time and subtracting that from the initial volume. Rats were given fresh liquid diet daily, and intakes at 48 and 72 h postinjection were determined in the same way. Twenty-four-, 48-, and 72-h water intakes were also measured by weighing the bottles each day and subtracting their weights from their initial weights. Animals were weighed daily. Forty-eight and 72 h data for two rats (one VX and one sham-operated) were not available.

Statistical analyses. Data were analyzed with three-way ANOVA, including VX as a between-subjects factor and injection site (lateral or fourth ventricle) and drug as repeated measures factors. Post-hoc comparisons were made using least significant difference tests.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Exp 1: effects of MTII and SHU9119 delivered to the DVC
Data for 10 rats with verified injection placements in the DVC (see Fig. 1Go) are included in these analyses. Data from 3 rats were excluded based on cannula placements outside of the DVC.

As shown in Fig. 2Go, food intake after unilateral MTII injection was significantly decreased at 2 h [t(9) = 2.232; P < 0.05], 4 h [t(9) = 3.255; P < 0.01], and 24 h [t(9) = 3.90; P < 0.005] compared with that after vehicle treatment. Food intakes at 48 and 72 h after MTII were similar to those after aCSF. Twenty-four hours after MTII injection, rats lost more weight than after aCSF [t(9) = 2.064; P < 0.05]. Water intake was reduced 2 h after MTII injections [aCSF mean, 5.44 g; MTII mean, 3.52 g; t(9) = 1.982; P < 0.05], but did not vary across conditions at subsequent times.



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Figure 2. Cumulative food intake (mean ± SEM) 2, 4, and 24 h after the start of dark cycle (left). aCSF or 0.01 nmol MTII was delivered to the DVC 30 min before lights out. Body weight change (mean ± SEM) 24 h after those injections is shown on the right. Rats weighed an average of 450 g at the start of the experiment.

 
SHU9119 injected unilaterally into the DVC increased food intake at 4 h [t(6) = -3.644; P < 0.01] and at 24 h [t(6) = -2.722; P < 0.02; see Fig. 3Go]. The drug affected water intake only at 4 h, increasing it slightly [aCSF mean, 10.3 g; SHU9119 mean, 13.04 g; t(6) = -2.717; P < 0.05]. Body weight did not vary across conditions at any time.



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Figure 3. Cumulative food intake (mean ± SEM) 2, 4, and 24 h after the start of the dark cycle (left). aCSF or 0.0625 nmol SHU9119 was delivered to the DVC 30 min before lights out. Body weight change (mean ± SEM) 24 h after those injections is shown on the right. Rats weighed an average of 480 g at the start of the experiment.

 
Exp 2: effects of 4th- and lateral-icv MTII in intact and VX animals
Liquid diet intake. MTII significantly decreased cumulative liquid diet intake at 2 h [F(1, 9) = 30.745; P < 0.001], 4 h [F(1, 9) = 36.152; P < 0.001], and 24 h [F(1, 9) = 47.636; P < 0.001; see Figs. 4Go and 5Go]. There was no difference in the responses of VX and sham-operated rats [24-h intake: F(1, 9) = 1.693; P = NS] and no two-factor interaction. At 48 h, liquid diet intake after MTII was lower than after vehicle in both groups of animals [F(1, 9) = 17.056; P < 0.005]. VX rats, however, had significantly lower intakes than control rats [F(1, 7) = 7.860; P < 0.03]. By 72 h, intakes were not significantly different across conditions. There were no significant differences between the intake effects of lateral- and 4th-icv delivery of MTII (i.e. no main effects of placement and no interactions involving this factor).



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Figure 4. Cumulative liquid diet intake (mean) 2 and 4 h after the start of the dark cycle. 4th- or lateral-icv injections of saline or 1.0 nmol MTII were given to VX and sham-operated rats 30 min before the start of the dark cycle.

 


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Figure 5. Mean daily liquid diet intake (top) and body weight change (bottom) after 4th- or lateral-icv injections of saline or 1.0 nmol MTII in VX and sham-operated rats. Rats weighed an average of 439 g at the start of the experiment.

 
Body weight change. As shown in Fig. 5Go, MTII decreased body weight at 24 h [F(1, 9) = 40.442; P < 0.001] and 48 h [F(1, 7) = 16.555; P < 0.005] relative to vehicle injections for both VX and sham-operated controls, which did not differ [F(1, 9) = 1.668; P = NS]. Seventy-two hours after MTII injections, rats still had not completely returned to their preinjection weights, but this fell short of statistical significance [F(1, 7) = 4.42; P = 0.07]. There were no differences in body weight change depending on the ventricle injected.

Water intake. VX rats showed no change in 24-h water intake after MTII, whereas control animals increased (P = 0.01) water consumption 24 h after the drug injection [VX x MTII interaction: F(1, 9) = 10.881; P < 0.01]. At 48 h, MTII significantly increased water intake in both VX and sham-operated rats [F(1, 7) = 19.99; P < 0.003; see Fig. 6Go]. Seventy-two hours after injections, there were no differences in water consumption across conditions. Water intake did not vary based on injection site under any condition.



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Figure 6. Daily water intake (mean ± SEM) after 4th- or lateral-icv injections of saline or 1.0 nmol MTII in VX and sham-operated rats.

 
Verification of vagotomy. In response to CCK8 injection, sham-operated controls decreased 15 and 30 min liquid diet intake relative to vehicle levels (15 min vehicle, 13.5 ml; 15 min CCK8, 9 ml; 30 min vehicle, 14.5 ml; 30 min CCK8, 9.25 ml; P < 0.004 at both times), whereas VX animals did not [means at 15 and 30 min: vehicle, 3.8 ml; CCK8, 5 ml; CCK8 x VX interaction: 15 min, F(1, 7) = 16.96; P < 0.005; 30 min, F(1, 7) = 16.363; P = 0.005]. The baseline level of intake was significantly lower in VX rats than in controls (P < 0.001) in these short term tests.


    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
We have provided the first demonstration that MC4-R ligands affect intake and body weight when delivered into caudal brain stem parenchyma. Our results more firmly establish the feeding relevance of caudal brain stem MC3/4-Rs, which had been suggested on the basis of effects obtained with MTII and SHU9119 delivered to the fourth ventricle (5). We showed here that these two ligands administered unilaterally to the DVC at doses well below the threshold for icv response affected food intake 4 and 24 h after injection. The MTII effects were quite substantial, a 33% suppression of 24-h intake compared with the effect of vehicle. Thirty to 100 times the dose used here would be required to produce this level of intake suppression with MTII delivered 4th-icv (5). We argue, on the strength of these results, that the effects of 4th-icv MTII and SHU9119 administration are mediated at least in part by the MC4-Rs in the DVC.

Although centered in the DVC, the infusions probably spread beyond its boundaries. It is unlikely, however, that the intake effects of these injections are mediated by structures outside of the DVC. Studies of MC4-R mRNA expression and MC3/4-R binding (13, 14) suggest that receptors are located in the DMX and medial NTS, and not in neighboring structures. Further work is needed to determine whether receptors in the DMX, NTS, or both nuclei mediate the effects of MTII and SHU9119 within the DVC.

Given our conclusion that the DMX and/or NTS contributes to the intake suppression of 4th-icv MTII, one might expect subdiaphragmatic vagotomy to reverse these effects at least in part. In fact, vagotomy had no effect on the feeding response to 4th-icv MTII. This result clearly indicates that nonvagal pathways from the DVC mediate these effects. A discussion of such pathways would naturally begin with the NTS. For example, projections from the NTS to centers of sympathetic nervous system control are well known (20, 21), and sympathetic actions of central MC4-R stimulation have been described. Recently, lateral-icv MTII was shown to increase sympathetic nerve activity to the brown adipose tissue (22). It is also possible that MTII effects are mediated by projections from the NTS to other structures of relevance to intake control, including the parabrachial nucleus, amygdala, and hypothalamic nuclei (23, 24).

The failure of vagotomy to reverse 4th-icv MTII effects discounts a role for efferents arising from DMX motor neurons and challenges the hypothesis that MC4-Rs in the DMX are a critical substrate. The DMX cannot be ruled out given potentially relevant nonvagal outputs from this nucleus. It has been known since the time of Cajal that there are at least two kinds of neurons in the DMX, medium (motor neurons) and small (25, 26). The small neurons do not contribute axons to the vagus and survive vagotomy with no evidence of chromatolysis (27, 28). Projections from these neurons to the parabrachial nucleus (29) and as far as the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (30) have been described. Another nonvagal output of the DMX may arise from the motor neurons, themselves. A substantial portion of them survive subdiaphragmatic vagotomy (31). These cells have long dendrites that extend into the NTS (32). MC4-Rs on DMX neurons could influence NTS projection neurons through dendrodendritic or dendrosomatic synapses, the existence of which has not been confirmed (32). Thus, the DMX, a site containing the highest density of MC4-R mRNA expression and MC3/4-R binding, remains a candidate for the mediation MTII effects in intact as well as VX rats.

Although vagotomy did not block the suppression of liquid diet intake after MTII, other effects of vagotomy were seen in this study. Intact rats increased water intake substantially during each of 2 days after MTII injection. VX rats did not show this response on the first day and exhibited a blunted increase in water intake between 24 and 48 h after injection. This increased water intake in control rats after MTII treatment is in sharp contrast with the decrease in both water and food intake seen in rats maintained ad libitum on solid food. Rats maintained on liquid diet drink very little water, only 10–15% of their total fluid intake. Given that MTII suppressed liquid diet intake by about 80%, it seems appropriate to interpret the increase in water intake as a compensatory response. This effect provides the strongest evidence to date that MTII does not suppress ingestive behavior in general, but, rather, specifically reduces nutrient intake. The delayed response in VX rats, therefore, appears to reflect their inability to adjust water intake in response to a challenge to fluid homeostasis.

The present work clearly demonstrates effects on feeding and body weight after stimulation of caudal brainstem MC3/4-Rs. Unilateral DVC injections of MC3/4-R ligands at doses subthreshold for ventricular response were effective; MTII injection resulted in deep suppression of intake and body weight, and administration of SHU9119 increased intake. These data do not speak to the question of whether forebrain MC3/4-Rs can give rise to similar effects. In fact, forebrain receptor action is suggested by the finding that the dose-response curves for lateral- and 4th-icv administration of MTII are virtually indistinguishable, as are the curves for icv administration of SHU9119 (5). Furthermore, recent work has shown that injections of low doses of MTII or SHU9119 into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus yield effects on daily intake (33) similar to those obtained here with DVC injections. It seems that similar responses can be elicited by pharmacological stimulation or inhibition of disparate MC4-R subpopulations. The present results suggest that a complete discussion of MC4-R contributions to intake and body weight control must address at least these two sets of receptors.


    Acknowledgments
 
We thank Abigail Ginsberg for critical contributions to the work.


    Footnotes
 
1 This study was supported by NIH DK-21397, DK-54080, and MH-43787. Back

Received October 4, 1999.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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