Acute effect of centrally injected Nesfatin-1 on some blood electrolytes and metabolites in rats

Abstract

Nesfatin-1 is a newly found food and water intake regulatory neuropeptide. Because it can regulate nutrition and thirst, nesfatin-1 may also have the potential to affect levels of blood electrolytes and metabolites. The current study was intended to resolve the acute influence of intra- cerebroventricularly injected nesfatin-1 on the levels of some blood electrolytes and metabolites in rats. The experiments were conducted on Sprague Dawley male rats. Nesfatin-1 (200 pmol) or saline (5 μL) was given the rats intracerebroven- tricularly. Central nesfatin-1 treatment caused increases in the concentrations of blood glucose, lactate, hematocrit, and hemoglobin without changing the blood pH, creatine, Na, K, Ca, Cl, and HCO3 levels. In conclusion, our findings show that the central nesfatin-1 could affect the concentrations of blood glucose, lactate, hematocrit, and hemo- globin without altering the blood electrolytes. This could be interpreted as the secondary effect of nesfatin-1 as a consequence of centrally injected nesfatin-1-evoked activation of sympathetic nerves.