Clozapine, but not haloperidol, increases neuropeptide Y neuronal expression in the rat hypothalamus

Division of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Many atypical antipsychotic drugs, such as clozapine, can induce significant weight gain which can have serious implications for drug compliance and morbidity. Food intake and weight gain are regulated primarily by the hypothalamus; the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus is the region initially mediating the effects of circulating hormones on food intake. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is an important hypothalamic peptide involved in body weight regulation. Immunohistochemical staining of NPY in the ARC was carried out in male Sprague-Dawley rats treated with haloperidol (1.5 mg/kg, i.p.) or clozapine (25 mg/kg, i.p.) for 3 weeks. Clozapine, but not haloperidol, produced an increase in NPY immunoreactivity in the ARC, suggesting that effects on NPY may be involved in increases in body weight following clozapine treatment.

Key Words: neuropeptide Y (NPY), antipsychotics, weight gain, schizophrenia, hypothalamus, rat

First published on January 9, 2006, doi:10.1177/0269881106061199

Journal of Psychopharmacology 2006;20:577.

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2006


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