Feedback from Arctic charr: Feed flavour stimulation and re-feeding after feed deprivation stimulate genes encoding both orexigenic and anorexigenic neuropeptides

Despite vast research attention, the knowledge about central mechanisms of appetite regulation in teleost remains inconclusive. A common strategy in studies on appetite regulating mechanisms is to measure the response to feed restriction or - deprivation, but responses vary between fish species and between experiments, and are also likely dependent on the degree of energy perturbation. The anadromous Arctic charr is an interesting model for studying appetite regulation as its feeding cycle comprises months of winter anorexia, and hyperphagia during summer. Here we studied how the gene expression of putative hypothalamic appetite regulators were affected by two days, one week and one month feed deprivation during summer, and subsequent re-feeding and exposure to feed flavour. Short-term feed deprivation caused only a minor reduction in condition factor and had no effect on hypothalamic gene expression. Long-term feed-deprivation caused a marked reduction in weight and condition factor which contrasted the increase in weight and condition factor seen in ad libitum fed controls. A marked energy perturbation by feed deprivation was also indicated by a lower hypothalamic expression of the genes encoding insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and IGF1 binding protein 5 in the feed deprived charr compared to fed controls. Surprisingly, long-term feed deprivation and energy perturbation did not induce changes in hypothalamic appetite regulators. Unexpectedly, re-feeding and exposure to feed flavour caused an increase in the expression of the genes encoding the orexigenic agouti-related peptide and the anorexigenic melanocortin receptor 4 and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript. Our study gives strong evidence for a role of these in appetite regulation in Arctic charr, but their mechanisms of action remain unknown. We suggest that changes in gene expression are more likely to be registered during transition phases, e.g. from fasting to feeding and upon stimulatory inputs such as feed flavour.