Caminos, Jorge E.Bravo López, Susana BelénGonzález Dieguez, Carmen RuthGarcés, Maria F.Cepeda, Libia A.González, Adriana C.Codido, FernandoLópez Pérez, Miguel A.Diéguez González, Carlos2020-06-062020-06-062008Caminos, J.E., Bravo, S.B., González, C.R. et al. Food intake regulating-neuropeptides are expressed and regulated through pregnancy and following food restriction in rat placenta. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 6, 14 (2008)1477-7827http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22884Background Neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti related peptide (AgRP), cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) and melanocortins, the products of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC), are hypothalamic peptides involved in feeding regulation and energy homeostasis. Recent evidence has demonstrated their expression in rat and human placenta. Methods In the current study, we have investigated the expression of those neuropeptides in the rat placenta by real-time PCR using a model of maternal food restriction. Results Our results showed that placental-derived neuropeptides were regulated through pregnancy and following food restriction. Conclusion These data could indicate that placental-derived neuropeptides represent a local regulatory circuit that may fine-tune control of energy balance during pregnancyeng© 2008 Caminos et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain ReactionFood RestrictionPOMC ExpressionChronic Food RestrictionAgouti Related Peptidejournal article10.1186/1477-7827-6-14open access