Stimulation of food intake after central galanin is associated with arcuate nucleus activation and does not differ between genetically selected low and high body weight lines of chickens.

Galanin, a 29 residue peptide found in the hypothalamus, causes orexigenic effects in a variety of species. In the present study, we investigated appetite-associated effects of galanin in chicks from lines which have been selected from a common founder population for either low or high body weight. The low line consists of some anorexic individuals and there are obese individuals in the high line. Central galanin caused increased food intake in both lines with the magnitude of response similar in both lines. We also quantified the number of c-Fos immunoreactive cells in several hypothalamic nuclei that are associated with appetite. Only the arcuate nucleus had an increase in the number of reactive cells, a response that was similar for both lines. From these results we concluded that selection for body weight likely did not affect galanin function on induction of feeding in either lines, and that the effect of galanin is associated with arcuate nucleus activation in chicks.