Intermittent intraperitoneal infusion of peptide YY(3-36) reduces daily food intake and adiposity in obese rats

Abstract

Peptide YY(3-36) [PYY(3-36)] is a gut-brain peptide that decreases food intake when administered by intravenous infusion to lean and obese humans and rats. However, chronic administration of PYY(3-36) by osmotic minipump to lean and obese rodents produces only a transient reduction in daily food intake and weight gain. It has recently been shown that 1-h intravenous infusions of PYY(3-36) every other hour for 10 days produced a sustained reduction in daily food intake, body weight, and adiposity in lean rats. Here, we determined whether intermittent delivery of PYY(3-36) can produce a similar response in diet-induced obese rats. During a 21-day period, obese rats (body fat >25%) received twice daily intraperitoneal infusion of vehicle ( n = 18) or PYY(3-36) ( n = 24) during hours 1–3 and 7–9 of the dark period. Rats had free access to both a 45% fat solid diet and a 29% fat liquid diet; intakes were determined from continuous computer recording of changes in food container weights. To sustain a 15–25% reduction in daily caloric intake, the initial PYY(3-36) dose of 30 pmol·kg−1·min−1 was reduced to 10 pmol·kg−1·min−1 on day 10 and then increased to 17 pmol·kg−1·min−1 on day 13. This dosing strategy produced a sustained reduction in daily caloric intake of 11–32% and prevented body weight gain (8 ± 6 vs. 51 ± 11 g) and fat deposition (4.4 ± 7.6 vs. 41.0 ± 12.8 g). These results indicate that intermittent intraperitoneal infusion of PYY(3-36) can produce a sustained reduction in food intake and adiposity in diet-induced obese rodents consuming palatable high-fat foods.