Effects of Exendin-4 Alone and with Peptide YY (3-36) on Food Intake and Body Weight in Diet-Induced Obese Rats

Significant weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) in obese humans correlates with enhanced secretion of anorexigenic gut hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY3–36 (PYY3–36). Our aim here was to identify a dosing strategy for intraperitoneal (IP) infusion of GLP-1 homologue exendin-4 alone and with PYY3–36 that produces a sustained reduction in daily food intake and body weight in diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. We tested 12 exendin-4 strategies over 10 weeks. Exendin-4 infused during the first and last 3 h of the dark period at 15–20 pmol/h (0.15 nmol/kg/day) produced a sustained 24 ± 1% reduction in daily food intake for 17 days, and decreased body weight by 7%. In a separate group of DIO rats, none of seven dosing strategies combining exendin-4 and PYY3–36 produced a similar reduction in daily food intake for >10 days. The subsequent decline in efficacies of exendin-4 alone and with PYY3–36 on food intake and body weight in each experiment suggested possible receptor downregulation and tolerance to treatments. However, when treatments were discontinued for 1 day following losses in efficacies, daily food intake significantly increased. Together, these results demonstrate that (i) intermittent IP infusion of a low dose of exendin-4 can produce a relatively prolonged reduction in daily food intake and body weight in DIO rats, (ii) co-infusion of exendin-4 and PYY3–36 does not further prolong this response, and (iii) activation of an orexigenic mechanism gradually occurs to counteract the inhibitory effects of exendin-4 alone and with PYY3–36 on food intake and body weight.