Intracerebroventricular injection of orexins does not stimulate food intake in neonatal chicks

1. Recently, 2 novel neuropeptides were discovered, both derived from the same precursor by proteolytic processing, which bind and activate 2 closely related orphan G protein-coupled receptors, Named orexin-A and -B (Sakurai et al., 1998). Both stimulate food intake when administered centrally to rats. 2. Our aim was to elucidate whether central injection of mammalian orexin-A or -B stimulates food intake in the chick. 3. Under conditions of free access to food, orexin-A did not alter the food intake of chicks, but cumulative food intake was significantly suppressed by orexin-B. 4. The orexin-B was then administered to chicks deprived of food for 3 h to confirm its suppressive effect. No significant effect of orexin-B on food intake was detected. 5. Central injection of orexin-B did not modify food intake when appetite was stimulated by fasting. 6. Neither of these orexins appears to stimulate feeding in chicks.