Smeltzer M, Scott K, Melhorn S, Krause E, Sakai R. Amylin blunts hyperphagia and reduces weight and fat gain during recovery in socially stressed rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 303: R676 -R682, 2012. First published July 25, 2012 doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00090.2012.-During recovery from social stress in a visible burrow system (VBS), during which a dominance hierarchy is formed among the males, rats display hyperphagia and gain weight preferentially as visceral adipose tissue. By proportionally increasing visceral adiposity, social stress may contribute to the establishment of metabolic disorder. Amylin was administered to rats fed ad libitum during recovery from VBS stress in an attempt to prevent hyperphagia and the resultant gain in body weight and fat mass. Amylin treatment reduced food intake, weight gain, and accumulation of fat mass in male burrow rats, but not in male controls that spent time housed with a single female rather than in the VBS. Amylin did not alter neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related peptide (AgRP), or proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA expression in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus as measured at the end of the recovery period, nor did it affect plasma corticosterone or leptin. Amylin exerted most of its effect on food intake during the first few days of recovery, possibly through antagonism of NPY and/or increasing leptin sensitivity. The potential for chronic social stress to contribute to metabolic disorder is diminished by amylin treatment, though the neuroendocrine mechanisms behind this effect remain elusive. metabolic disorder; energy expenditure; neuropeptide Y; leptin; visible burrow system AMYLIN IS A PEPTIDE HORMONE cosecreted with insulin from pancreatic -cells that acts as both a satiation and adiposity signal. Administration of amylin reduces food intake and decreases weight gain and fat mass, with relative preservation of lean mass (19,22,32). Conversely, recovery from social stress can cause precisely the opposite effects on food intake, body weight, and adiposity (10, 35). We use the visible burrow system (VBS) as a model of psychosocial stress. The VBS consists of a set of chambers and tubes that socially house 4 male and 2 female Long-Evans rats for 2 wk. In this situation, the male rats form a dominance hierarchy as they compete for access to females (5). When housed in the VBS, subordinate (SUB) rats lose a significant amount of weight, primarily from adipose mass, but also from lean mass. After removal from the VBS, rats are singly housed and allowed to recover for a few weeks, during which time SUB rats display hyperphagia and significant weight increase (36). SUB rats exposed to two cycles of VBS and recovery have greater amounts of adipose tissue than dominant (DOM) and control (CON) rats. In addition, a greater proportion of this fat is located in the visceral compartment, a pattern of deposition that has been associated with greater risk of metabolic dysfunction (4, 36).The behavioral, metabolic, and endocrine responses to stress can contribute ...