OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between neuropeptide Y (NPY) and diabetes by examining the content and distribution of NPY and its mRNA expression in the hypothalamus and pancreas of STZ-diabetic rats.

METHODSThirty Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (diabetic group, diabetic insulin treatment group, and control group). After feeding for 24 weeks, the rats were sacrificed. The expression of NPY in the hypothalamus and pancreas was detected with immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization.

RESULTS(1) The hypothalamic content of NPY and its mRNA were significantly increased in STZ-diabetic rats in comparison with normal controls. Increased expression of NPY mRNA was found only in the arcuate nucleus and not in the paraventricular nucleus in diabetic rats, suggesting that NPY was produced in the arcuate nucleus. (2) The hypothalamic content of NPY and its mRNA in STZ-diabetic rats were visibly reduced after insulin treatment compared with that in untreated diabetic rats. This supports the hypothesis that insulin deficiency in the brain may be responsible for increased hypothalamic NPY gene expression in diabetic rats. (3) The increase of hypothalamic NPY in STZ diabetic rats associated with hyperphagia and polydipsia could be reversed by insulin replacement, suggesting that increased hypothalamic NPY contributes to the pathophysiological progress of the diabetic state. (4) The present study demonstrated for the first time that the content of NPY and its mRNA in the pancreas was increased in STZ-diabetic rats, and that the distribution of NPY-positive cell in islets was changed from the periphery to the whole islet. The content and distribution of NPY and its mRNA in islets were not changed by insulin treatment.

CONCLUSIONIncreased NPY in the hypothalamus results in hypophagia and polydipsia, while the implication of increased NPY in the pancreas of diabetic rats is not clear.