Cocaine‐ and amphetamine‐regulated transcript peptide (CART) in the brain of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata: Organization, interaction with neuropeptide Y, and response to changes in energy status

Abstract Cocaine‐ and amphetamine‐regulated transcript (CART) has emerged as a potent anorectic agent. CART is widely distributed in the brain of mammals, amphibians, and teleosts, but the relevant information in avian brain is not available. In birds, CART inhibits food intake, whereas neuropeptide Y (NPY), a well‐known orexigenic peptide, stimulates it. How these neuropeptides interact in the brain to regulate energy balance is not known. We studied the distribution of CART‐immunoreactivity in the brain of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, its interaction with NPY, and their response to dynamic energy states. CART‐immunoreactive fibers were found in the subpallium, hypothalamus, midbrain, and brainstem. Conspicuous CART‐immunoreactive cells were observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, hypothalamic paraventricular, supraoptic, dorsomedial, infundibular (IN), lateral hypothalamic, Edinger‐Westphal, and parabrachial nuclei. Hypothalamic sections of fed, fasted, and refed animals were immunostained with cFos, NPY, and CART antisera. Fasting dramatically increased cFos‐ and NPY‐immunoreactivity in the IN, followed by rapid reduction by 2 hours and restoration to normal fed levels 6–10 hours after refeeding. CART‐immunoreactive fibers in IN showed a significant reduction during fasting and upregulation with refeeding. Within the IN, double immunofluorescence revealed that 94 ± 2.1% of NPY‐immunoreactive neurons were contacted by CART‐immunoreactive fibers and 96 ± 2.8% NPY‐immunoreactive neurons expressed cFos during fasting. Compared to controls, superfused hypothalamic slices of fasted birds treated with CART‐peptide showed a significant reduction ( P < 0.001) in NPY‐immunoreactivity in the IN. As in other vertebrates, CART in the brain of T. guttata may perform several functions, and has a particularly important role in the hypothalamic regulation of energy homeostasis. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3014–3041, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.