The nucleus accumbens 5-HTR4-CART pathway ties anorexia to hyperactivity

• Published in: Translational psychiatry Vol. 2; no. 12; p. e203
• Main Authors: Jean, A, Laurent, L, Bockaert, J, Charnay, Y, Dusticier, N, Nieoullon, A, Barrot, M, Neve, R, Compan, V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 11-12-2012; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Pub. Group
• Subjects: 631/80/86; 692/699/476/377; Amphetamine; Amphetamine - pharmacology; Animals; Anorexia; Anorexia - etiology; Anorexia - metabolism; Anorexia - physiopathology; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Psychology; Cocaine; Cocaine - pharmacology; Human health and pathology; Hyperkinesis; Hyperkinesis - etiology; Hyperkinesis - metabolism; Hyperkinesis - physiopathology; Life Sciences; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice; Mice, Knockout; N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine - pharmacology; Neurobiology; Neurons and Cognition; Neurosciences; Nucleus Accumbens; Nucleus Accumbens - drug effects; Nucleus Accumbens - metabolism; Nucleus Accumbens - physiopathology; Original; original-article; Pharmacotherapy; Piperidines; Piperidines - pharmacology; Propane; Propane - analogs & derivatives; Propane - pharmacology; Psychiatrics and mental health; Psychiatry; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4 - drug effects; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4 - metabolism; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4 - physiology; Serotonin 5-HT4 Receptor Antagonists; Serotonin 5-HT4 Receptor Antagonists - pharmacology; knockout; reward; 5-HT; feeding; locomotion
• ISSN: 2158-3188; 2158-3188
• DOI: 10.1038/tp.2012.131

In mental diseases, the brain does not systematically adjust motor activity to feeding. Probably, the most outlined example is the association between hyperactivity and anorexia in
Anorexia nervosa
. The neural underpinnings of this ‘paradox’, however, are poorly elucidated. Although anorexia and hyperactivity prevail over self-preservation, both symptoms rarely exist independently, suggesting commonalities in neural pathways, most likely in the reward system. We previously discovered an addictive molecular facet of anorexia, involving production, in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), of the same transcripts stimulated in response to cocaine and amphetamine (CART) upon stimulation of the 5-HT
4
receptors (5-HTR
4
) or MDMA (ecstasy). Here, we tested whether this pathway predisposes not only to anorexia but also to hyperactivity. Following food restriction, mice are expected to overeat. However, selecting hyperactive and addiction-related animal models, we observed that mice lacking 5-HTR
1B
self-imposed food restriction after deprivation and still displayed anorexia and hyperactivity after ecstasy. Decryption of the mechanisms showed a gain-of-function of 5-HTR
4
in the absence of 5-HTR
1B
, associated with CART surplus in the NAc and not in other brain areas. NAc-5-HTR
4
overexpression upregulated NAc-CART, provoked anorexia and hyperactivity. NAc-5-HTR
4
knockdown or blockade reduced ecstasy-induced hyperactivity. Finally, NAc-CART knockdown suppressed hyperactivity upon stimulation of the NAc-5-HTR
4
. Additionally, inactivating NAc-5-HTR
4
suppressed ecstasy’s preference, strengthening the rewarding facet of anorexia. In conclusion, the NAc-5-HTR
4
/CART pathway establishes a ‘tight-junction’ between anorexia and hyperactivity, suggesting the existence of a primary functional unit susceptible to limit overeating associated with resting following homeostasis rules.