Hypothalamic Peptides and Meal Patterns

This chapter describes the techniques for measuring the patterns of meals and the characteristics of such meals. It reviews data on a number of hypothalamic peptides that have been demonstrated to affect food intake and identifies the ways in which they affect meal patterns. To study how meals are taken, or meal pattern analysis, requires continuous monitoring of the intake of food. One common technique is to deliver pellets of food via a dispenser. Other ways to continuously monitor food intake are to present the food source on a strain gauge or a weighing scale. Administration of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) of rats results in an increased dietary intake of carbohydrates. Meal pattern analyses show that this increase is via an increased meal size and duration without changes in the number of meals or the rate of feeding.