Effect of repeated administration of prolactin releasing peptide on feeding behavior in rats

Prolactin releasing peptide (PrRP) has been reported to reduce food intake in rats. We tested the effect of i.c.v. administration of PrRP-31 on food intake in both food deprived and free-feeding rats. We did not find any effect of PrRP-31 on food intake after single injections of up to an 8-nmol dose, but observed a marked decrease in food intake and body weight in rats that received a repeated twice daily administration of 8 nmol of PrRP-31. This effect was associated with an adverse behavioral pattern, indicating that the repeated high doses of the peptide caused non-specific effects inducing anorexia. We also tested several other behavioral parameters like locomotion and exploratory time, grooming and resting time, using lower doses of PrRP that did not cause the adverse behavior. Moreover, we carried out locomotor and sensory motor activity tests at the doses that exerted the most pronounced effect on the food intake. None of these tests suggested any specific behavioral effect of PrRP. We conclude that the behavioral pattern induced by PrRP is likely to be different from those induced by many other neuropeptides affecting food intake in rats.