Tuesday 16 August 2011

GABA also plays a role in body-fat regulation

GABAergic signaling by AgRP neurons prevents anorexia via a melanocortin-independent mechanism.

"AgRP neurons, also co-release neuropeptide Y (NPY) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to promote feeding and inhibit metabolism"

So the AgRP neurons also secret NPY and GABA, and this helps make you fat by suppressing the action of the POMC neurons, infact AgRP blocks the melanocortin 4 receptors, which is VERY bad news because blocking those receptors is a strong factor for bodyfat gain.

According to the abstract, removing the AgRP neurons essentially makes you stop eating and you die of starvation. So clearly the AgRP neurons are what makes you "hungry"

However, even if you delete the AgRP neurons, feeding behaviour can be restored by the administration of bretazenil, which is a GABA agonist. Interesting! So GABA receptor binding in the parabrachial nucleus plays a massive part in food intake.



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