Stimulatory effect of the secretogranin-ll derived peptide secretoneurin on food intake and locomotion in female goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Secretoneurin (SN) is a conserved peptide derived by proteolytic processing from the middle domain of the ∼600 amino acid precursor secretogranin-II (SgII). Secretoneurin is widely distributed in secretory granules of endocrine cells and neurons and has important roles in reproduction as it stimulates luteinizing hormone release from the pituitary. A potential new role of SN in goldfish feeding is the subject of this study. Firstly, we established that acute (26 h; p < 0.0001) and short-term (72 h; p = 0.016) fasting increased SgIIa precursor mRNA levels 1.25-fold in the telencephalon, implicating SN in the control of feeding. Secondly, we determined that intracerebroventricular injections of the type A SN (SNa; 0.2 and 1 ng/g BW) increased food intake and locomotor behavior by 60 min. Fish injected with the lower and higher doses of SNa (0.2 and 1 ng/g) respectively exhibited significant 1.77- and 2.58-fold higher food intake (p < 0.0001) than the saline-injected control fish. Locomotor behavior was increased by 1.35- and 2.26-fold for 0.2 ng/g SNa (p = 0.0001) and 1 ng/g SNa (p < 0.0001), respectively. Injection of 1 ng/g SNa increased mRNA levels of hypothalamic neuropeptide Y 1.36-fold (p = 0.038) and decreased hypothalamic cocaine-and amphetamine-regulated transcript by 33% (p = 0.01) at 2 h and 5 h post-injection, respectively. These data suggest interactions of SNa with stimulatory and inhibitory pathways of food intake control in fish.