Amylin and food intake in mice: effects on motivation to eat and mechanism of action.

Amylin is a hormone produced by the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Amylin decreased food pellet consumption. Amylin also decreased lever pressing for milk solution whether or not the mice were prefed. Amylin did not produce a conditioned taste aversion in a two bottle test, whereas lithium chloride did. In addition, L-arginine, a precursor for nitric oxide synthesis, was demonstrated to inhibit the ability of amylin to decrease food intake. Amylin did not alter nitric oxide synthase activity in the fundus of the stomach. These studies demonstrated that amylin inhibits food intake at a higher range of doses than is typical of anorectic agents such as cholecystokinin. Amylin does not appear to decrease food intake by reducing the release of nitric oxide but may affect appetite by modulating serum glucose levels when co-released with insulin.