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"The paper discusses the approximately 100-year presence and transformation of the approach and mentality of arts and craft movements which emerged in the mid-19th century from the aspect of industrial education workshops in Transylvania. In late 19th-century Hungary, the approach of artistic innovation, spread with the help of William Morris’s and Walter Crane’s works, is perhaps most immediately seen in the creative workshops that approached the relationship between aesthetics and technology rather differently. It appeared in the works of the British Arts & Crafts movement and also in the curriculum of late 19th-century Hungarian vocational schools and institutions of vocational education, as well as in the methodology of art reform movements that sprung up after World War I, the most familiar example of which was the Bauhaus. The guidelines for workshop-based education and training, the implementation of technical innovations and new artistic trends into the education, an emphasis on the students’ individual skills, facilitating the individual’s creativity and imagination, the primary role of architecture, the adaptation of basic building principles of modern homes, strong personal relationship and cooperation between teachers and students were the bases of the educational reform that started in the 1840s and continued for a century. The curriculum of industrial vocational schools in Hungary included the development of drawing, modelling and form-creation skills, with the help of which many of those who graduated from these institutions, made a great impact on avantgarde and modernism between the two world wars. Keywords: vocational education, industrial education, applied arts, design, Arts and Crafts movement, Bauhaus "

Leptin is a key catabolic regulator of food intake (FI) and energy expenditure. Both aging and obesity have been shown to induce leptin-resistance. The present study aimed to analyze age-related changes in the anorexigenic and hypermetabolic responsiveness to acute intracerebroventricular leptin administration in different age-groups of normally fed male Wistar rats (adult and old rats from 3 to 24months of age, NF3 to NF24, respectively). The expressions of the long form of the leptin receptor (Ob-Rb) and inhibitory SOCS3 genes were also assessed by quantitative RT-PCR in the arcuate nucleus (ARC). The influence of high-fat diet-induced obesity (HF) on the anorexigenic leptin effects were also tested in younger and older middle-aged groups (HF6 and HF12). Leptin-induced anorexia varied with age: leptin suppressed re-feeding FI (following 48-h fasting) strongly in young adult (NF3), but not in younger or older middle-aged (NF6 or NF12) or in aging (NF18) rats. However, anorexigenic leptin effects reached statistical significance again in old NF24 rats. Leptin-induced hypermetabolism, on the other hand, showed monotonous age-related decline and disappeared by old age. Ob-Rb expression declined until 12months of age followed by a partial recovery in NF18 and NF24 groups. On the other hand, SOCS3 expression was high in NF6 and NF18 and to some extent in NF24 rats. Age-related alterations of Ob-Rb and SOCS3 expression in the ARC may partly contribute to the explanation of age-related variations in anorexigenic but not hypermetabolic leptin effects. High-fat diet-induced obesity was associated with resistance to leptin-induced anorexia in HF6, similar to that seen in NF6. However, instead of the expected leptin-resistance in HF12, a strong leptin-induced suppression of re-feeding was detected in these obese middle-aged rats. Our results suggest that acute central effects of leptin on anorexia and hypermetabolism change in disparate ways during aging, implying separate mechanisms (e.g. signal transduction pathways) of different leptin actions. The age-related pattern shown by leptin-induced anorexia may contribute to the explanation of middle-aged obesity, and partly to that of aging anorexia. Our findings concerning obese rats are in accord with previous observations on anorexigenic effects of peripherally administered cholecystokinin: diet-induced obesity appeared to accelerate the development of age-related regulatory alterations. Similarly, our present data also raise the possibility that chronic diet-induced obesity promotes responsiveness to centrally applied leptin at least concerning anorexigenic effects.

The thermoregulatory functions may vary with age. Thermosensitivity is active in neonates and children; both heat production and heat loss effector mechanisms are functional but easily exhaustable. Proportional and lasting defense against thermal challenges is difficult, and both hypothermia and hyperthermia may easily develop. Febrile or hypothermic responses to infections or endotoxin can also develop, together with confusion. In small children febrile convulsions may be dangerous. In old age the resting body temperature may be lower than in young adults. Further, thermosensitivity decreases, the thresholds for activating skin vasomotor and evaporative responses or metabolism are shifted, and responses to thermal challenges are delayed or insufficient: both hypothermia and hyperthermia may develop easily. Infection-induced fevers are often limited or absent, or replaced by hypothermia. Various types of brain damage may induce special forms of hypothermia, hyperthermia, or severe fever. Impaired mental state often accompanies hypothermia and hyperthermia, and may occasionally be a dominant feature of infection (instead of the most commonly observed fever). Aging brings about a turning point in women's life: the menopause. The well-known influence of regular hormonal cycles on the thermoregulation of a woman of fertile age gives way to menopausal hot flushes caused by estrogen withdrawal. Not all details of this thermoregulatory anomaly are fully understood yet.

The thermoregulatory functions may vary with age. Thermosensitivity is active in neonates and children; both heat production and heat loss effector mechanisms are functional but easily exhaustable. Proportional and lasting defense against thermal challenges is difficult, and both hypothermia and hyperthermia may easily develop. Febrile or hypothermic responses to infections or endotoxin can also develop, together with confusion. In small children febrile convulsions may be dangerous. In old age the resting body temperature may be lower than in young adults. Further, thermosensitivity decreases, the thresholds for activating skin vasomotor and evaporative responses or metabolism are shifted, and responses to thermal challenges are delayed or insufficient: both hypothermia and hyperthermia may develop easily. Infection-induced fevers are often limited or absent, or replaced by hypothermia. Various types of brain damage may induce special forms of hypothermia, hyperthermia, or severe fever. Impaired mental state often accompanies hypothermia and hyperthermia, and may occasionally be a dominant feature of infection (instead of the most commonly observed fever). Aging brings about a turning point in women's life: the menopause. The well-known influence of regular hormonal cycles on the thermoregulation of a woman of fertile age gives way to menopausal hot flushes caused by estrogen withdrawal. Not all details of this thermoregulatory anomaly are fully understood yet.

Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating-hormone (alpha-MSH) is a neuropeptide that induces weight loss via its anorexigenic and hypermetabolic/hyperthermic effects. Two major public health problems of the human population involving energy balance (i.e. middle-aged obesity and aging cachexia) also appear in other mammals, therefore age-related regulatory alterations may also be assumed in the background. Previous studies demonstrated characteristic age-related shifts in the anorexigenic effects of centrally applied alpha-MSH with strong effects in young adult, diminished efficacy in middle-aged and very pronounced responsiveness in old rats. The present study aimed to investigate age-related changes in the acute central thermoregulatory responsiveness to an alpha-MSH injection in rats and to compare them with those of food intake-related responsiveness. Oxygen consumption (VO2), core (Tc) and tail skin temperatures (Ts, indicating heat loss) of male Wistar rats of different age groups (from 2 to 24 months of age), were recorded in an indirect calorimeter complemented by thermocouples upon intracerebroventricular alpha-MSH administration (0, 5 µg) at a slightly subthermoneutral environment (25-26 °C). Acute alpha-MSH-induced rises in VO2 and Tc were most pronounced in the young adult age-group. In these rats the hyperthemic effects were somewhat diminished by an activation of heat loss. Juvenile animals showed weaker hyperthermic responses, middle-aged rats none at all. Alpha-MSH-induced hyperthermia became significant again in old rats. Acute thermoregulatory (hypermetabolic/hyperthermic) responsiveness to alpha-MSH shows a distinct age-related pattern similar to that of acute anorexigenic responsiveness. Thus, our results may also contribute to the explanation of both middle-aged obesity and aging cachexia.

The authors summarize the main events in the long life of Szilard Donhoffer and his importance in founding thermoregulatory research at Pecs, Hungary.

In the background of obesity, among other factors, regulatory alterations in energy balance affecting peptide systems may also be assumed. Regulation of energy balance does not only involve maintenance of body weight but also that of metabolic rate and core temperature. The contribution of alarin, a new member of the potentially orexigenic galanin peptide family, to the regulation of energy metabolism has been recently suggested. Our aim was to analyze the thermoregulatory effects of alarin in rats. Adult male Wistar rats received full-length alarin (alarin 1-25), its truncated form (alarin 6-25Cys) or scrambled alarin in various doses intracerebroventricularly at different ambient temperatures. Oxygen consumption, heat loss (assessed by tail skin temperature) and core temperature of rats were recorded in an indirect calorimeter system. Upon alarin injection at 25 °C, an increase in oxygen consumption and continuous tail skin vasoconstriction induced a slow rise in core temperature that reached 0.5 °C by 120 and 1.0 °C by 180 min. At cooler or slightly warmer temperatures similar responses were seen. Neither the truncated nor the scrambled alarin elicited any significant thermoregulatory response, however, the truncated form antagonized the hyperthermic actions of the full-length peptide. Alarin appears to elicit a slow hypermetabolic, hyperthermic response in rats. Such a thermoregulatory response would characterize a catabolic (anorexic and hypermetabolic) mediator. Further investigations are needed to clarify the complex role of alarin in energy homeostasis.

Leptin, a catabolic adiposity signal acts in the hypothalamus via suppressing food intake and inducing hypermetabolism. Age and obesity are accompanied by leptin resistance. The present study aimed to clarify which components of the catabolic leptin effects are influenced most strongly by aging and which ones by nutritional state-induced alterations in body composition. In our biotelemetric study the effects of a 7-day intracerebroventricular leptin infusion on various parameters of energy balance (food intake, body weight, oxygen consumption, heart rate and body temperature) were analyzed in male Wistar rats of different age-groups (from 3 to 24 months) and nutritional states (normally fed, diet-induced obese and calorie-restricted). Leptin resistance of older animals affected hypermetabolic actions, whereas leptin induced anorexia in all age-groups. Weight reducing effect of leptin diminished in middle-aged and aging animals to become significant again in the oldest group. In diet-induced obese rats leptin-induced hypermetabolism of the young rats and hypermetabolism plus anorexia of the aging ones were suppressed. Calorie-restriction reduced body weight and fat mass to a similar extent in all age-groups. It strongly enhanced leptin-induced hypermetabolism at all ages and prevented the manifestation of anorexigenic actions of leptin with the exception of the oldest group. This latter finding suggests an unexpected increase of responsiveness to anorexigenic leptin actions in old rats. Accordingly, anorexia and hypermetabolism change in disparate ways with aging. Nutritional state predominantly influences hypermetabolic leptin actions. Resistance to both hypermetabolic and anorexigenic actions were promoted by obesity, while calorie-restriction enhanced responsiveness to leptin, especially in old rats.

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is anorexic, irrespective whether it is applied intraperitoneally (IP) or intracerebroventricularly (ICV) in male Wistar rats. The metabolic effects depend on the route of administration: by the IP route it elicits hypothermia (presumably by type-1 receptors, CCK1R-s), while ICV administration is followed by fever-like hypermetabolism and hyperthermia via activation of CCK2R-s, which latter response seems to be most important in the postprandial (compensatory) hypermetabolism. The efficacy of the IP injected CCK varies with age: it causes strong anorexia in young adult 4 and 6-months old and again in old rats (aged 18–24 months), but the middle-aged (12-month old) ones seem to be resistant to this effect. Such pattern of effects may contribute to the explanation of age-related obesity observed in middle-aged animals as well as to the aging anorexia and loss of body weight in old ones. Diet-induced obesity accelerates the appearance of CCK-resistance as well as the return of high sensitivity to CCK in further aging, while chronic calorie-restriction prevents the development of resistance, as if the speed of the age-related regulatory changes was altered by the nutritional state. The effects of ICV applied CCK also change with age: the characteristic anorexic and hypermetabolic/hyperthermic effects can be observed in young adult rats, but the effects gradually and monotonically decline with age and disappear by the old age of 24 months. These disparate age-related patterns of CCK efficacy upon peripheral or central administration routes may indicate that although both peripheral and central CCKR-s exert anorexic effects, they may have dissimilar roles in the regulation of overall energy balance.

Hypothalamic neuropeptides influence the main components of energy balance: metabolic rate, food intake, body weight as well as body temperature, by exerting either an overall anabolic or catabolic effect. The contribution of alarin, the most recently discovered member of the galanin peptide family to the regulation of energy metabolism has been suggested. Our aim was to analyze the complex thermoregulatory and food intake-related effects of alarin in rats. Adult male Wistar rats received different doses of alarin (0.3; 1; 3 and 15μg corresponding approximately to 0.1, 0.33, 1, and 5 nmol, respectively) intracerebroventricularly. Regarding thermoregulatory analysis, oxygen consumption (indicating metabolic rate), core temperature and heat loss (assessed by tail skin temperature) were recorded in an Oxymax indirect calorimeter system complemented with thermocouples and Benchtop thermometer. In order to investigate potential prostaglandin-mediated mechanisms of the hyperthermic effect of alarin, effects of intraperitoneally applied non-selective (indomethacin, 2mg/kg) or selective cyclooxygenase inhibitor (COX-2 inhibitor meloxicam, 1; 2mg/kg) were tested. Effects of alarin on daytime and nighttime spontaneous food intake, as well as, 24-h fasting-induced re-feeding were recorded in an automated FeedScale system. Alarin increased oxygen consumption with simultaneous suppression of heat loss leading to a slow coordinated rise in core temperature. Both applied COX-inhibitors suppressed this action. Alarin failed to induce daytime food intake, but suppressed spontaneous nighttime and also fasting-induced re-feeding food intake. Alarin appears to elicit a slow anorexigenic and prostaglandin-mediated, fever-like hyperthermic response in rats. Such a combination would characterize a catabolic mediator. The potential involvement of alarin in sickness behavior may be assumed.

Previously demonstrated age-related changes in the catabolic melanocortin system that may contribute to middle-aged obesity and aging anorexia, raise the question of the potential involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in these phenomena, as this catabolic hypothalamic mediator acts downstream to melanocortins. Catabolic effects of CRF were shown to be mediated by both CRF1 (hypermetabolism) and CRF2 (anorexia) receptors. To test the potential role of CRF in age-related obesity and aging anorexia, we investigated acute central effects of the peptide on energy balance in male and female rats during the course of aging. Effects of an intracerebroventricular CRF injection on food intake (FI), oxygen-consumption (VO2), core- and tail skin temperatures (Tc and Ts) were studied in male and female Wistar rats of five different age-groups (from 3- to 24-month). Anorexigenic responsiveness was tested during 180-min re-feeding (FeedScale) following 24-h fasting. Thermoregulatory analysis was performed by indirect calorimetry (Oxymax) complemented by thermocouples recording Tc and Ts (indicating heat loss). CRF suppressed FI in 3-month male and female animals. In males, CRF-induced anorexia declined with aging, whereas in females it was maintained in all groups. The peptide increased VO2 and Tc in all male age-groups, while the weaker hypermetabolic response characterizing 3-month females declined rapidly with aging. Thus, age-related alterations in acute central anorexigenic and hypermetabolic effects of CRF show different non-parallel patterns in males and females. Our findings underline the importance of gender differences. They also call the attention to the differential age-related changes in the CRF1 and CRF2 receptor systems.

Orexigenic and anorexigenic peptide signals from the gastrointestinal tract represent the feeding state for the CNS, while leptin and insulin convey information on the nutritional state—these together regulate body mass/composition. Primary changes in nutritional state modify this complex signaling: in obesity, resistance may develop to the anorexigenic signals (anorexigenic gastrointestinal peptides, leptin, insulin), while in calorie-restricted states no such resistance was demonstrated (as if promoting further obesity or maintenance of lean shape, respectively). The orexigenic signaling was less severely affected by the nutritional state. Aging may also be coupled with resistance to anorexigenic signals, contributing to the explanation of middle-aged obesity. Irrespective of the nutritional state in late phases of aging increased leptin sensitivity and enhanced catabolic mechanisms are characteristic.

In earlier studies it has been found that rats respond to intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-8) with a febrile response characterized by rises of heat production and core temperature together with tail-skin vasoconstriction mediated by CCK2 receptors. Biotelemetric investigations of the same species have additionally shown that CCK-induced fever is accompanied by decreased locomotor activity. Similar data for mice have not been reported so far. In the present studies C57BL/6 mice were infused i.c.v. for 3 days with CCK-8 to see effects on body core temperature, locomotor activity, food intake and body weight. Biotelemetric monitoring disclosed a rise in daylight core temperature and a fall of night-time locomotor activity both lasting beyond the time of i.c.v. infusions. Food intake was suppressed only during infusion, while a significant decrease of body weight was sustained after the end of CCK-8 infusion. It is concluded that similar to rats mice also respond to i.c.v. infusion of CCK-8 with a fever-like (regulated) hyperthermia and some components of sickness behavior as measured by biotelemetry, and thus a CCK-mediated mechanism may contribute to fever genesis also in mice.

With advancing age most aspects of the peptidergic regulation of energy balance are altered. The alteration involves both the peripheral peptides derived from the adipose tissue or the gastrointestinal tract and the peptides of the central nervous system (brainstem and hypothalamus). In general, the expression of orexigenic peptides and their receptors decreases with age, while that of the anorexic ones rather increases, but not simultaneously and not in a linear fashion. Apart from such quantitative changes, the efficacy of the related peptides may also change with age. These changes are not necessarily linear, either: instead of continuous decline or increase of its effects, the effects of a peptide may become less pronounced in some phases of aging and much enhanced in other ones. Comparing the individual peptides, the phasic alterations in their anabolic or catabolic roles in the regulation of energy balance may exhibit dissimilar time-patterns. In addition, within the overall anabolic or catabolic effects, the feeding and metabolic actions of certain peptides may not change simultaneously. Altogether, as compared with young adults, in middle-aged animals or individuals the anabolic processes (increased food intake with decreased energy expenditure) seem to prevail, which processes may contribute to the explanation of age-related obesity, while in the old ones the catabolic processes (anorexia with enhanced metabolic rate) dominate, which possibly explain the aging anorexia, frailty and sarcopenia.

Hypothermia occurs in the most severe cases of systemic inflammation, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. This study evaluated whether the hypothermic response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is modulated by the endocannabinoid anandamide(AEA) and its receptors: cannabinoid-1 (CB1), cannabinoid-2 (CB2) and transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1). In rats exposed to an ambient temperature of 22◦C, a moderate dose of LPS (25 - 100 μg kg−1 I.V.) induced a fall in body temperature with a nadir at ∼100 minpostinjection. This response was not affected by desensitization of intra-abdominal TRPV1 receptors with resiniferatoxin (20 μg kg - 1 I.P.), by systemic TRPV1 antagonism with capsazepine(40mg kg−1 I.P.), or by systemic CB2 receptor antagonism with SR144528 (1.4 mg kg−1 I.P.).However, CB1 receptor antagonism by rimonabant (4.6mg kg−1 I.P.) or SLV319 (15mg kg−1 I.P.)blocked LPS hypothermia. The effect of rimonabant was further studied. Rimonabant blocked LPS hypothermia when administered I.C.V. at a dose (4.6 μg) that was too low to produce systemic effects. The blockade of LPS hypothermia by I.C.V. rimonabant was associated with suppression of the circulating level of tumour necrosis factor-α. In contrast to rimonabant,the I.C.V. administration of AEA (50 μg) enhanced LPS hypothermia. Importantly, I.C.V. AEAdid not evoke hypothermia in rats not treated with LPS, thus indicating that AEA modulates LPS-activated pathways in the brain rather than thermo effector pathways. In conclusion, the present study reveals a novel, critical role of brain CB1 receptors in LPS hypothermia. Brain CB1 receptors may constitute a new therapeutic target in systemic inflammation and sepsis.

Changes of the anorexigenic and hypermetabolic components of the overall catabolic effect of alpha-MSH were studied in rats as a function of age. In male Wistar rats a 7 day-long intracerebroventricular infusion of alpha-MSH suppressed food intake and caused a fall in body weight in 2 and 3–4 month-old (young) groups, but it was most effective in the 24 month-old group and had hardly any effect in the 12 month-old (middle-aged) animals. In contrast, metabolic rate as well as biotelemetric measurements of core temperature and heart rate revealed the most pronounced hypermetabolic effects of such infusions at age 12 months. The hypermetabolic effect was still high in the oldest group, but low in the younger groups. In conclusion: Changes of the anorexigenic and hypermetabolic effects in the course of aging are not concordant. The overall catabolic activity of alpha-MSH is smallest in the middle-aged and highest in the oldest group.

The hypothalamic melanocortin (MC) system is a major catabolic regulator of energy balance: it suppresses food intake (FI), elevates metabolic rate, and reduces body weight (BW). The primary activator of the MC system [mainly via the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH)] is the adipocyte-derived leptin. With increasing BW, resistance develops to leptin-induced anorexia, but independent of this, in genetically modified animals, some alpha-MSH actions were maintained. We investigated the responsiveness of the MC system in its complexity (FI vs. metabolic correlates) in genetically intact male Wistar rats of different nutritional states (and different leptin sensitivities), i.e., in rats aged 2 months [normally fed (NF2)] or 6 months [calorie-restricted (CR6), fed ad libitum (NF6), and high-fat diet-induced obese (HF6) groups]. A 7-day-long, 1-μg/μl/h intracerebroventricular infusion of alpha-MSH reduced BW in all groups, particularly in NF6 and NF2 animals, and even CR6 rats lost BW upon alpha-MSH infusion (in contrast to leptin administration). Anorexia developed in NF2-NF6 and less in CR6 groups, and some FI fall was also seen in HF6 rats. The hypermetabolic effects (temperature/heart rate elevations) were most pronounced in CR6 and next in HF6 rats. These data suggest that alpha-MSH responsiveness is maintained in various forms (depending on nutritional state), despite obesity-induced leptin resistance.

Capsaicin-sensitive abdominal vagal fibers contribute to postprandial satiety and hypermetabolism. We hypothesized that the hypometabolic adaptation to fasting involves similar mechanisms and that blockade of such signals might enhance loss of body weight upon fasting. A low dosage of capsaicin (5mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally desensitizes the local afferent vagal nerve endings for approximately three weeks without causing systemic desensitization or damaging the efferent fibers. Following such desensitization, male Wistar rats deprived of food for 120h lost significantly (18.9 + or - 0.4% vs. 15.8 + or - 1.0%), i.e. 20% more weight than the controls. Based on the present results, this can only be explained by the demonstrated defective hypometabolic adaptation in desensitized animals. Other mechanisms do not seem to make up for this defective function. Upon refeeding following a period of fasting, in the first 0.5-3h the food intake was significantly greater in capsaicin pretreated compared to the control group, demonstrating blockade of satiety as a sign of desensitization. The delayed gastrointestinal passage supported that vagal afferent nerve endings were in a desensitized state in these rats. In conclusion, local desensitization of the abdominal capsaicin-sensitive fibers attenuates the hypometabolic adaptation to food deprivation and the lack of fasting-induced activation of these fibers cannot be substituted by other fasting-dependent mechanisms. It is suggested that reports of low body weight in mice lacking the transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 channel and in rats with systemic capsaicin desensitization might be explained by a lasting absence of similar (vagus-mediated) hypometabolic processes, preventing weight gain or obesity.

Intracerebroventricular administration of alpha-MSH in young adult rats enhanced metabolic rate and caused a dose-dependent suppression of food intake, exhibiting a coordinated catabolic pattern. However, the thermoregulatory effects did not seem to be coordinated: the rising heat production was accompanied by a practically simultaneous tendency for rise in heat loss (skin vasodilatation), and the final core temperature either increased or decreased depending on which rise prevailed. The effect on heat loss possibly explains the antipyretic properties of the peptide.

Energy balance of the body is determined mainly by the function of various hypothalamic and brainstem nuclei, according to a complex interaction between the regulation of body temperature (actual metabolic rate vs. heat loss) and regulation of body weight (metabolic rate vs. food intake). The direct effect of central anabolic neuropeptides (neuropeptide Y, orexins, melanin concentrating hormone, etc.) is to enhance food intake and suppress metabolic rate with a tendency to cause hypothermia, while central catabolic neuropeptides (melanocortins, corticotropin releasing factor, cocaine-amphetamine regulated peptide, etc.) suppress food intake and enhance energy expenditure with a tendency to induce hyperthermia. Many other neuropeptides are neither clearly anabolic, nor clearly catabolic, but still influence these complex hypothalamic/brainstem functions. Some peripheral peptides (e.g. leptin, insulin, ghrelin) acting at either peripheral or cerebral sites also contribute to the regulation of energy balance. The prevailing thermoregulatory status, the substances or neural signals representing actual feeding vs. established nutritional states, and the aging process may modify the expression and/or activity of peripheral and central peptides and peptide receptors.

During the aging process of mammals first a phase of obesity and increased adiposity is observed in middle-aged subjects, then anorexia and loss of body weight (sarcopenia) at old age. A possible age-dependence of the anorexigenic alpha-melanocyte-stimulating-hormone (alpha-MSH) in these regulatory changes was studied. Male Wistar rats aged 6-8 weeks (juvenile), 3-4 months (young adult), 6 and 12 months (middle-aged), and 24-26 months (old) were equipped with chronic cannula to the lateral cerebral ventricle. The effect of 5 microg alpha-MSH injected through the cannula was analyzed on food intake evoked by 24-h food deprivation. Juvenile rats seemed almost resistant to alpha-MSH (21.9% suppression). In young adults alpha-MSH suppressed food intake by 68.7%. However, the alpha-MSH-induced anorexia was significantly less pronounced in middle-aged (55.7% or 26.4% in rats aged 6 or 12 months, respectively), and much more pronounced (73.3%) in old rats. The adiposity (judged by the relative amount of perirenal fat) increased until middle-age, but did not change between middle-age and old-age. It is concluded that changes in alpha-MSH responsiveness possibly contribute to both the age-related obesity in middle-aged rats and to the anorexia of old ones: first the adiposity then the age may be the important factor.

Age-related obesity is known to be adjoined by leptin resistance. It has not been clarified whether the resistance is cause or result of obesity. In the present experiments, the anorexic (suppressing food intake and body weight) and hypermetabolic (increasing body temperature (Tc), activity, and heart rate (HR), indicating metabolic rate) responses to 7-day-long intracerebroventricular leptin infusion were compared in 2- and 6-month-old normally fed (NF2 and NF6 groups), 6-month-old high-fat-diet-induced obese (HF6), and 6-month-old calorie-restricted (CR6) rats. The anorexic effects were inversely related to fat content: They were most pronounced in NF2, less in NF6, non-significant in HF6 rats, but also absent in CR6 animals of the lowest fat content. This virtual leptin resistance in CR6 rats was due to their high orexigenic activity (enhanced feeding response to NPY). In contrast, CR6 rats were hypersensitive to the metabolic effects of leptin infusion (rise in Tc and HR; biotelemetric measurements), NF2 were still sensitive, while NF6 and HF6 rats exhibited moderate or low sensitivity. In conclusion, leptin resistance depends on body fat content rather than on age itself, although with age the proportion of fat tissue increases and contributes to self-perpetuating rise in body weight.

Age-related changes in renal morphology and function cannot be regarded physiological. The number of glomeruli falls, sclerotic glomeruli and aglomerular arterioles develop. Besides tubular atrophy interstitial fibrosis is often seen, and the age-related vascular changes strongly affect the kidneys. Renal blood flow and GFR decrease, without concomitant changes in se-creatinine. Disorders of tubular transport manifest mainly in salt- and water-excretion and lead to hyposthenuria. The pathogenesis of these age-related changes is not fully understood. Nevertheless, such changes impair the excretory functions and the pharmacokinetics of drugs. In real chronic renal failure other functions (erythropoietin production, vitamin-D, Ca and P metabolism) are also impaired. Due to more frequent occurrence of systemic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) in the elderly, real chronic renal failure is also more common, and various forms of acute renal failure develop more easily.

Hyperphagia followed both central neuropeptide Y (NPY) administration and the presumed increase of endogenous NPY activity after food deprivation. NPY induced greater hyperphagia in cold-adapted than non-adapted rats; fasting of comparable severity caused similar hyperphagia in the two groups. NPY-receptor-antagonist d -Tyr 27,36 , d -Thr 32 -NPY(27,36) or functional NPY-antagonist d -myo-inositol-1,2,6-trisphosphate attenuated the hyperphagic effect of both NPY and fasting in non-adapted rats. However, while completely preventing the NPY-hyperphagia, they did not influence the fasting-induced hyperphagia in cold-adapted rats. With cold-adaptation the sensitivity to NPY and to its antagonists increases, but the hypothalamic NPY loses from its fundamental role in the regulation of food intake, and the hyperphagia seen in cold-adaptation may need some other explanation.

(1) Chronic cold exposure elicited immediate hyperphagia in rats, while the fasting-induced hyperphagia became enhanced after 3 weeks (but not 1 week) of adaptation. (2) The NPY-induced hyperphagia increased quickly with cold-adaptation, even in tests performed outside the cold chamber. (3) Resting core temperature decreased by about 0.4–0.6 °C after 3 weeks (full adaptation). (4) Peripheral cold signals rather than NPY appear to be important in the fast development of cold-induced hyperphagia. (5) NPY may play a slowly developing, additional role in this hyperphagia and may contribute to mild hypothermia.

The possible role of neuropeptide Y (NPY) was studied in rats with hypermetabolism and hyperphagia induced by thyroxine (50-100-200 microg/day s.c. for 3-4 weeks). Both metabolic rate and body temperature increased quickly with thyroxine treatment, while hyperphagia started to develop only after 2 weeks of treatment. The weight gain rate progressively decreased or stopped. The NPY-induced hyperphagia was not altered significantly during thyroxine treatment (in severe thyrotoxicosis it was rather suppressed); the fasting-induced hyperphagia was smaller than in controls following 1 week of treatment, and it became enhanced only after 3 weeks, when the deficit in body weight indicated a certain level of starvation already prior to the food deprivation. The NPY-antagonist D-Tyr27,36,D-Thr32-NPY27,36 suppressed this fasting-induced hyperphagia, suggesting that endogenous NPY is involved in this late phase. In conclusion, hyperthyroidism per se does not increase the NPY activity, instead the quickly developing hyperthermia may inhibit the NPY actions; NPY may, however, be activated by a concurrent hypermetabolism-induced starvation.

Following perineural capsaicin pretreatment of the main trunks of the abdominal vagus of rats, the first and the second phases of the polyphasic febrile response to intravenous lipopolysaccharide were unaltered, while the third phase of fever course (peak at 5 h) was attenuated. In rats desensitized by intraperitoneal (i.p.) capsaicin (i.e. abdominal non-systemic desensitization), mainly the first but not the later fever phases were reduced. The postprandial hyperthermia to intragastric injection of BaSO4 suspension was attenuated by either i.p. or perineural capsaicin treatment. It is concluded that, in contrast to the accepted model of postprandial hyperthermia, which is mediated by capsaicin-sensitive fibers of the abdominal vagus, in the early phase of polyphasic fever the vagal afferent nerves appear to play no role. The influence of i.p. capsaicin-desensitization on this initiating fever phase is independent of the vagus, and a capsaicin-induced alteration of endotoxin action in the liver, prior to vagal nerve endings, is more likely. The late febrile phase is probably influenced by efferent vagal fibers, which might be damaged more easily by perineural than i.p. capsaicin treatment.

As pretreatment with intraperitoneal capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide, CAP), an agonist of the vanilloid receptor known as VR1 or transient receptor potential channel-vanilloid receptor subtype 1 (TRPV-1), has been shown to block the first phase of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) fever in rats, this phase is thought to depend on the TRPV-1-bearing sensory nerve fibers originating in the abdominal cavity. However, our recent studies suggest that CAP blocks the first phase via a non-neural mechanism. In the present work, we studied whether this mechanism involves the TRPV-1. Adult Long–Evans rats implanted with chronic jugular catheters were used. Pretreatment with CAP (5 mg kg−1, i.p.) 10 days before administration of LPS (10 μg kg−1, i.v.) resulted in the loss of the entire first phase and a part of the second phase of LPS fever. Pretreatment with the ultrapotent TRPV-1 agonist resiniferatoxin (RTX; 2, 20, or 200 μg kg−1, i.p.) 10 days before administration of LPS had no effect on the first and second phases of LPS fever, but it exaggerated the third phase at the highest dose. The latter effect was presumably due to the known ability of high doses of TRPV-1 agonists to cause a loss of warm sensitivity, thus leading to uncontrolled, hyperpyretic responses. Pretreatment with the selective competitive TRPV-1 antagonist capsazepine (N-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]-1,3,4,5-tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-2H-2-benzazepine-2-carbothioamidem, CPZ; 40 mg kg−1, i.p.) 90 min before administration of LPS (10 μg kg−1, i.v.) or CAP (1 mg kg−1, i.p.) did not affect LPS fever, but blocked the immediate hypothermic response to acute administration of CAP. It is concluded that LPS fever is initiated via a non-neural mechanism, which is CAP-sensitive but RTX- and CPZ-insensitive. The action of CAP on this mechanism is likely TRPV-1-independent. It is speculated that this mechanism may be the production of prostaglandin E2 by macrophages in LPS-processing organs. British Journal of Pharmacology (2004) 143, 1023–1032. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705977

(1) Gastric stretch caused by intragastric injection of calorie-free suspension of BaSO4 activates cholecystokinin (CCK)-A receptors on afferent fibers of the abdominal vagus, resulting in the enhancement of metabolic rate and body temperature, similarly as in postprandial states. (2) Intragastric injection of nutrient suspension acts faster, but this action does not involve the vagus nerve. (3) In transmission of BaSO4-induced abdominal signals, central CCK-B receptor activation plays an important role. (4) Postprandial hypermetabolism and hyperthermia following intragastric injection of calorie-rich nutrient suspension is independent of peripheral or central CCK-ergic mechanisms.

(1) Cold-adapted rats, upon acute cold-exposure, exhibit overshoot increase in metabolic rate (MR) and paradoxical rise in core temperature (Tc). (2) Fasting causes suppression of resting (daytime) but not nocturnal MR and Tc. (3) In fasting rats, acute cold-exposure evokes relatively greater overshoot MR- and Tc-rises than in control rats, while central prostaglandin E induces relatively greater elevations in MR and Tc. (4) Re-feeding quickly reverses fasting-induced MR- and Tc-suppression, earlier than body weight is normalized. (5) The metabolic suppression originating from gastrointestinal signals can be overruled by opposite abdominal information (feeding) or by thermoregulatory information (cold signals).

Leptin is produced mainly in the white adipose tissue and emerged as one of the key catabolic regulators of food intake and energy expenditure. During the course of aging characteristic alterations in body weight and body composition in humans and mammals, i.e. middle-aged obesity and aging anorexia and cachexia, suggest age-related regulatory changes in energy balance in the background. Aging has been associated with increased fat mass, central and peripheral leptin resistance as indicated by its failure to reduce food intake, to increase metabolic rate and thereby to induce weight loss. Leptin resistance is a common feature of aging and obesity (even in the young). The question arises whether aging or fat accumulation plays the primary role in the development of this resistance. The review focuses mainly on mechanisms and development of central leptin resistance. Age-related decline primarily affects the hypermetabolic component of central catabolic leptin actions, while the anorexigenic component is even growing stronger in the late phase of aging. Obesity enhances resistance to leptin at any age, particularly in old rats, calorie-restriction, on the other hand, increases responsiveness to leptin, especially in the oldest age-group. Thus, without obesity, leptin sensitivity appears not to decrease but to increase by old age. Interactions with other substances (e.g. insulin, cholecystokinin, endogenous cannabinoids) and life-style factors (e.g. exercise) in these age-related changes need to be investigated.

(1) At their corresponding thermoneutral temperatures, cold-adapted rats, as compared with their non-adapted counterparts, exhibited faster and greater body temperature rises to intracerebroventricular injections of prostaglandin E1. (2) Similar injections of neuropeptide Y induced significantly greater food intakes in cold-adapted than in non-adapted rats. (3) Cold adaptation is concluded to result in increased sensitivity/responsiveness of central regulatory circuits to various stimuli, including hypersensitivity in the regulation of both body temperature and food intake.

(1) By 12–36 h of postnatal age, compared with 0–12 h, rabbits exhibited 27% rise in minimum metabolic rate (MMR); the high level was later maintained. (2) The early rise was similar in fed and unfed pups, but it was absent in animals unexposed to cold during this period. (3) Beyond the age of 36 h, the unfed pups could not sustain the high MMR. (4) The low MMR of >36–72 h old unfed pups was normalized by the age of >72–120 h if they were successfully fed (their weight increased by 31%), although the consumed milk was not yet incorporated into metabolically active body mass.

(1) Resting core temperature ( T c ) is lower, resting metabolic rate (MR) is higher in cold-adapted (CA) than non-adapted (NA) rats. (2) Tissue hypermetabolism of CA rats is balanced by skin vasodilatation; the net result is relatively low T c . (3) Acute cold exposure of CA rats induces an “overshoot” MR-rise that exceeds actual needs and results in “paradoxical” T c elevation throughout the exposure. In NA rats, comparable cold exposure causes T c decline and a slow MR rise. (4) No initial T c fall precedes the cold-induced MR rise of CA animals; i.e., peripheral cold sensors, that are more sensitive than in NA rats, induce the overshoot response.

In rats, fevers induced by moderate-to-high doses of intravenous lipopolysaccharide consist of three phases (phases 1, 2 and 3) with body temperature peaks at approximately 1, 2, and 5 h postinjection, respectively. In this study, the effects of bilateral truncal subdiaphragmatic vagotomy and intraperitoneal capsaicin desensitization on febrile phases 1-3 were assessed in adult Wistar rats. Surgical vagotomy was performed approximately 30 d before the experiment; this procedure interrupts both afferent and efferent vagal fibers. Capsaicin was administered intraperitoneally in two consecutive injections (2 and 3 mg/kg, 3 h apart) 1 week prior to the experiment; this procedure desensitizes afferent fibers, primarily within the abdominal cavity, and does not lead to the known thermal effects of systemic capsaicin desensitization. At a neutral ambient temperature, the rats were given Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (10 microg/kg) through a preimplanted jugular catheter, and their colonic temperature wes measured by thermocouples for 7 h. The control rats exhibited the typical triphasic febrile responses. Confirming our earlier studies, subdiaphragmatic vagotomy did not affect phases 1 and 2; it did, however, result in a 2.5-fold reduction of phase 3. Capsaicin desensitization modified the febrile response differently: phases 2 and 3 were unaffected, but phase 1 disappeared. We suggest that neural afferent fibers (nonvagal but perhaps vagal as well) play an important role in the early febrile response (phase 1) by transducing peripheral pyrogenic signals to the brain. We also suggest that vagal efferent fibers are likely to participate in the later febrile response (phase 3) via an unknown mechanism.

1. Substance-P (SP) has been shown to induce a regulated rise in body temperature when injected into one of the lateral cerebral ventricles of rats. 2. The non-peptide antagonist of SP (CP-96,345) decreased the SP-induced rise in core temperature and, when given prior to an intravenous endotoxin injection, it also attenuated the febrile response to endotoxin.

Recent evidence has suggested a role of abdominal vagal afferents in the pathogenesis of the febrile response. The abdominal vagus consists of five main branches (viz., the anterior and posterior celiac branches, anterior and posterior gastric branches, and hepatic branch). The branch responsible for transducing a pyrogenic signal from the periphery to the brain has not as yet been identified. In the present study, we address this issue by testing the febrile responsiveness of male Wistar rats subjected to one of four selective vagotomies: celiac (CBV), gastric (GBV), hepatic (HBV), or sham (SV). In the case of CBV, GBV, and HBV, only the particular vagal branch(es) was cut; for SV, all branches were left intact. After the postsurgical recovery (26–29 days), the rats had a catheter implanted into the jugular vein. On days 29–32, their colonic temperature (Tc) responses to a low dose (1 μg/kg) of Escherichia colilipopolysaccharide (LPS) were studied. Three days later, the animals were subjected to a 24-h food and water deprivation, and the effectiveness of the four vagotomies to induce gastric food retention, pancreatic hypertrophy, and impairment of the portorenal osmotic reflex was assessed by weighing the stomach and pancreas and measuring the specific gravity of bladder urine, respectively. Stomach mass, pancreas mass, and urine density successfully separated the four experimental groups into four distinct clusters, thus confirming that each type of vagotomy had a different effect on the indexes measured. The Tc responses of SV, CBV, and GBV rats to LPS did not differ and were characterized by a latency of ∼40 min and a maximal rise of 0.7 ± 0.1, 0.6 ± 0.1, and 0.9 ± 0.2°C, respectively. The fever response of the HBV rats was different; practically no Tc rise occurred (0.1 ± 0.2°C). The HBV appeared to be the only selective abdominal vagotomy affecting the febrile responsiveness. We conclude, therefore, that the hepatic vagus plays an important role in the transduction of a pyrogenic signal from the periphery to the brain.

the last decades have witnessed an upsurge of neuropeptide research. These substances regulate or influence various functions like appetite, water intake, learning and memory, adaptive responses to environmental stress, thermoregulation and fever, social behavior, and sleep. One function may be

Subdiaphragmatically vagotomized rats cannot mount a febrile response to pyrogens and are believed to have severe thermoregulatory deficiencies. We addressed the issue of thermoeffector competence of vagotomized rats by asking three questions. In Expt. 1 we asked, can vagotomized rats readily recruit tail skin vasoconstriction in the course of a moderate cold exposure? In Expt. 2 the question was, can brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis readily be activated in vagotomized rats (e.g., in response to a tail pinch)? In Expt. 3, we investigated the question: can vagotomized rats elevate their body temperature in response to ephedrine (a drug of high hyperthermizing potential) to the same extent as sham-operated controls? Rats were vagotomized or sham operated and implanted with a catheter into the jugular vein and a thermocouple into the interscapular BAT. To prevent the common complications of vagotomy, special perioperative care was given. During experiments, colonic, tail skin, and BAT temperatures (Tc, Tsk, and TBAT, respectively) were measured. The vagotomized animals were well nourished and had a body mass (325 +/- 6 g) similar to that of the controls (338 +/- 6 g). In Expt. 1, in response to external cooling (15 degrees C, 1 h), the vagotomized (n = 30) and sham-operated (n = 31) rats recruited tail skin vasoconstriction at close values of both Tc (37.84 +/- 0.08 and 37.97 +/- 0.07 degrees C) and Tsk (33.16 +/- 0.17 and 33.18 +/- 0.18 degrees C, respectively). In Expt. 2, tail pinch-associated stress in vagotomized rats resulted in a sharp rise in the TBAT-Tc gradient by 0.3-1.0 degree C. In Expt. 3, ephedrine administered intravenously (whether in a 5 or 35 mg/kg dose) evoked similar hyperthermic responses in the vagotomized and sham-operated rats: a moderate (approximately 2.5 degrees C) Tc rise in the low dose and a "supramaximal" (approximately 5.0 degrees C) rise in the high dose. In sum, the answer to all three questions asked is yes. Vagotomized rats, at least when well nourished, exhibit no signs of thermoeffector deficiency. It is, therefore, not effector incompetence but rather vagal deafferentation per se that can explain the febrile irresponsiveness of vagotomized rats.

Experimentally, systemic inflammation induced by a bolus intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) may be accompanied by three different thermoregulatory responses: monophasic fever (the typical response to low doses of LPS), biphasic fever (medium doses), and hypothermia (high doses). In our recent study [Romanovsky, A. A., V. A. Kulchitsky, C. T. Simons, N. Sugimoto, and M. Szekely. Am. J. Physiol. (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol.). In press], monophasic fever did not occur in subdiaphragmatically vagotomized rats. In the present work, we asked whether vagotomy affects the two other types of thermoregulatory response. Adult Wistar rats were vagotomized (or sham operated) and had an intravenous catheter implanted. On day 28 postvagotomy, the thermal responses to the intravenous injection of Escherichia coli LPS (0, 1, 10, 100, or 1,000 micrograms/kg) were tested in either a neutral (30 degrees C) or slightly cool (25 degrees C) environment. Three major results were obtained. 1) In the sham-operated rats, the 1 microgram/kg dose of LPS caused at 30 degrees C a monophasic fever with a maximal colonic temperature (Tc) rise of approximately 0.6 degree C; this response was abated (no Tc changes) in the vagotomized rats. 2) At 30 degrees C, all responses to higher doses of LPS (10-1,000 micrograms/kg) were represented by biphasic fevers (the higher the dose, the less pronounced the first and the more pronounced the second phase was); none of these biphasic fevers was altered in the vagotomized animals. 3) In response to the 1,000 micrograms/kg dose at 25 degrees C, hypothermia occurred: Tc changed by -0.5 +/- 0.1 degree C (nadir); this hypothermia was exaggerated (-1.1 +/- 0.1 degrees C) in the vagotomized rats. It is concluded that vagal afferentation may be important in the mediation of the response to minor amounts of circulating LPS, whereas the response to larger amounts is brought about mostly (if not exclusively) by nonvagal mechanisms. This difference may be explained by the dose-dependent mechanisms of the processing of exogenous pyrogens. Vagotomized animals also appear to be more sensitive to the hypothermizing action of LPS in a cool environment; the mechanisms of this phenomenon remain speculative.

Anorexia of aging is a physiologic decrease in food intake, which gradually leads to weight loss accompanied by age-related changes in body composition. Animal experiments have revealed that advanced age is associated with altered regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis: suppression of orexigenic mechanisms mediated by neuropeptide Y, orexins, and ghrelin, and by increased activity of the major anorexigenic neuropeptide, α-MSH. In the elderly, a reduced sense of smell and taste may contribute to the loss of appetite, and in old humans, increased serum cholecystokinin concentration may delay gastric emptying resulting in a prolonged feeling of satiety. Although leptin and insulin play a major role in the control of energy homeostasis, their role in the loss of body weight in healthy elderly persons remains to be established. In some of the elderly, loss of body mass may result in malnutrition or even cachexia. Anorexia of aging plays some role in sarcopenia, involuntary loss of muscle mass and strength; however, there are intrinsic age-related changes in skeletal muscle, which underlie this health-endangering condition. Currently, there is no efficient pharmacological treatment for the anorexia of aging; however, it may be partially prevented by improved processing and presenting of food, physical training, and an appropriate social environment.

Anorexia of aging is a physiologic decrease in food intake, which gradually leads to weight loss accompanied by age-related changes in body composition. Animal experiments have revealed that advanced age is associated with altered regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis: suppression of orexigenic mechanisms mediated by neuropeptide Y, orexins, and ghrelin, and by increased activity of the major anorexigenic neuropeptide, α-MSH. In the elderly, a reduced sense of smell and taste may contribute to the loss of appetite, and in old humans, increased serum cholecystokinin concentration may delay gastric emptying resulting in a prolonged feeling of satiety. Although leptin and insulin play a major role in the control of energy homeostasis, their role in the loss of body weight in healthy elderly persons remains to be established. In some of the elderly, loss of body mass may result in malnutrition or even cachexia. Anorexia of aging plays some role in sarcopenia, involuntary loss of muscle mass and strength; however, there are intrinsic age-related changes in skeletal muscle, which underlie this health-endangering condition. Currently, there is no efficient pharmacological treatment for the anorexia of aging; however, it may be partially prevented by improved processing and presenting of food, physical training, and an appropriate social environment.