Central regulation of food intake during aging in the teleost fish Nothobranchius furzeri.in Annals of Anatomy-Anatomischer Anzeiger 10.1016/j.aanat.2016.04.020 special issue on Animal Anatomy II, vol 207:123-124 A. Montesano, N. Arcamone,T. Genade,P.de Girolamo

4.2 Central regulation of food intake during aging in the teleost fish Nothobranchius furzeri Montesano A, Arcamone N, Genade T, De Girolamo P The mechanisms deputed to energetic control have been selected by ancestral diets resulting from the nutrient disposal during the evolution. They are regulated by a network of molecules controlling metabolic needs and influence caloric intake. Also the course of aging adds significant modifications to energy homeostasis and fuel metabolism in. An emerging model for aging research, a teleost fish Nothobranchius furzeri, the vertebrate with the shortest lifespan described in laboratory, is employed to investigate the regulation of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and Orexin A and B in the hypothalamus. The study is carried out on specimens at different age stages and fed with different diets. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed the localization and co-labeling of NPY, Orexins A and B in some hypothalamic areas, as the dorsal hypotalamus (Hd) and diffuse inferiore lobe (DIL). The co-labeled neurons were identified as serotoninergic. In addition, the median lifespan is prolonged of more than one week in subjects treated with hypocaloric diet. In the latter group, western blot analyses revealed high expression of NPY in the brain. These observations suggest that the role of NPY in food intake regulation is modulated during aging and hypocaloric regime, and is linked to the action of Orexin A. Furthermore, the co-presence of NPY and Orexin A in serotoninergic neurons could indicate the involvement of the two peptides also in the circadian rhythm regulation.