ArticlePloS one2015
Central melanocortins regulate the motivation for sucrose reward.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding food addiction in obesity: a genetic perspective.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Melanocortin 4 receptor-expressing neurons in the lateral stripe of the striatum regulate affect and motor control.iScience · 2025Article
- Homeostatic-related peptides injected into the rat nucleus accumbens alter palatable eating and impact the binge-like intake of a sweetened fat diet during simultaneous μ-opioid receptor stimulation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Fasting-induced activity changes in MC3R neurons of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus.Life science alliance · 2024Article
- Melanocortin agonism in a social context selectively activates nucleus accumbens in an oxytocin-dependent manner.Neuropharmacology · 2024Article
- Chronic Nicotine Consumption and Withdrawal Regulate Melanocortin Receptor, CRF, and CRF Receptor mRNA Levels in the Rat Brain.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Neuropeptides Modulate Feeding via the Dopamine Reward Pathway.Neurochemical research · 2023Review
- The Melanocortin System: A Promising Target for the Development of New Antidepressant Drugs.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- High sucrose consumption decouples intrinsic and synaptic excitability of AgRP neurons without altering body weight.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2023Article
- Melanocortin receptor agonist melanotan-II microinjected in the nucleus accumbens decreases appetitive and consumptive responding for food.Neuropeptides · 2022Article
- Association and interaction of the MC4R rs17782313 polymorphism with plasma ghrelin, GLP-1, cortisol, food intake and eating behaviors in overweight/obese Iranian adults.BMC endocrine disorders · 2022Article
- Actions of feeding-related peptides on the mesolimbic dopamine system in regulation of natural and drug rewards.Addiction neuroscience · 2022Article
- Melanocortin Signaling Connecting Systemic Metabolism With Mood Disorders.Biological psychiatry · 2022Review
- Hypothalamic Kisspeptin Neurons and the Control of Homeostasis.Endocrinology · 2022Review
- Review
- Afferent neuropeptide Y projections to the ventral tegmental area in normal-weight male Wistar rats.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2019Article
- Excessive Consumption of Sugar: an Insatiable Drive for Reward.Current nutrition reports · 2019Review
- A Motivational and Neuropeptidergic Hub: Anatomical and Functional Diversity within the Nucleus Accumbens Shell.Neuron · 2019Review
- Arcuate Kisspeptin Neurons Coordinate Reproductive Activities with Metabolism.Seminars in reproductive medicine · 2019Review
- The melanocortin pathway and control of appetite-progress and therapeutic implications.The Journal of endocrinology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The role of the melanocortin (MC) system in feeding behavior is well established. Food intake is potently suppressed by central infusion of the MC 3/4 receptor agonist α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), whereas the MC 3/4 receptor inverse-agonist Agouti Related Peptide (AGRP) has the opposite effect. MC receptors are widely expressed in both hypothalamic and extra-hypothalamic brain regions, including nuclei involved in food reward and motivation, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventral tegmental area. This suggests that MCs modulate motivational aspects of food intake. To test this hypothesis, rats were injected intracerebroventricularly with α-MSH or AGRP and their motivation for sucrose was tested under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Food motivated behavior was dose-dependently decreased by α-MSH. Conversely, AGRP increased responding for sucrose, an effect that was blocked by pretreatment with the dopamine receptor antagonist α-flupenthixol. In contrast to progressive ratio responding, free intake of sucrose remained unaltered upon α-MSH or AGRP infusion. In addition, we investigated whether the effects of α-MSH and AGRP on food motivation were mediated by the NAc shell. In situ hybridization of MC3 and MC4 receptor expression confirmed that the MC4 receptor was expressed throughout the NAc, and injection of α-MSH and AGRP into the NAc shell caused a decrease and an increase in motivation for sucrose, respectively. These data show that the motivation for palatable food is modulated by MC4 receptors in the NAc shell, and demonstrate cross-talk between the MC and dopamine system in the modulation of food motivation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.