Neuropeptide Y regulates the leptin receptors in rat hypothalamic and pituitary explant cultures

The aim of this work was to investigate whether the expression of leptin receptors (OBR) in the hypothalamic–pituitary (HP) axis is regulated by the orexigenic neuropeptide Y (NPY) during ovulation. To this end, we performed in vitro assays, using cultures of both hypothalamic and anterior pituitary explants from immature rats primed with gonadotropins to induce ovulation. In hypothalamic explants, protein expression of both the long and short OBR isoforms was increased by the presence of NPY at 100–500 ng/ml and at 300–500 ng/ml, respectively. Similarly, in pituitary explants, protein expression of the long isoform was increased between 30 and 300 ng/ml while that of the short isoform was increased only at 300 ng/ml. When both tissues were incubated with NPY and BIBP3226, a specific antagonist of the NPY Y1 receptor subtype, the NPY-induced protein expression was totally reversed by the antagonist at almost every concentration assayed. However, this antagonist was not always capable of blocking the increase caused by the presence of NPY at transcript level. In conclusion, our results indicate that NPY is able to regulate the expression of both the long and the short isoforms of OBR in the HP axis, at least in part, through the NPY Y1 receptor. These results reinforce the fact that NPY and its NPY Y1 receptor play a critical role in reproduction by modulating leptin sensitivity.