Opposite dopaminergic activity in lateral and median hypothalamic nuclei in relation to the feeding effect of D-Ser2-Leu-Enk-Thr6 (DSLET).

The Leu-enkephalin analogue D-Ser2-Leu-Enk-Thr6 (DSLET) had been shown to enhance feeding in rats, increase dopaminergic activity in the striatum like other opiate agonists, and particularly to decrease dopaminergic activity in the hypothalamus. In this study, the latter effect was found to be localized in the hypothalamic nuclei involved in the regulation of feeding such as the paraventricular (PVN), ventromedian (VMH), dorsomedian (DMH) nuclei and the lateral hypothalamus (LH). DSLET produced the same decrease in dopaminergic activity in the LH as in the whole hypothalamus. In the median nuclei (PVN and VMH and to a lesser extent in the DMH), an opposite effect was observed, resembling that in the striatum. The relevance of these opposite variations with regard to the feeding effect of DSLET is discussed. The decreased dopaminergic activity in the LH would appear to be the most specifically related to the behavioural effect given the known role of dopamine in this region. These data reconcile apparently contradictory aspects of the role of dopamine and the functional opposition between the lateral and median hypothalamus in food intake control.