The American diet, especially that of adolescents, contains highly palatable foods of high-energy content and large amounts of high-fructose sweeteners. These factors are believed to contribute to the obesity epidemic and insulin resistance. Previous investigations revealed that the central metabolism of glucose suppresses food intake mediated by the hypothalamic AMP-kinase/malonylCoA signaling system. Unlike glucose, centrally administered fructose increases food intake. Evidence presented herein indicates that the more rapid initial steps of central fructose metabolism deplete hypothalamic ATP level, whereas the slower regulated steps of glucose metabolism elevate hypothalamic ATP level. Consistent with effects on the [ATP]/[AMP] ratio, fructose increases phosphorylation/activation of hypothalamic AMP kinase causing phosphorylation/inactivation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, whereas glucose has the inverse effects. The changes provoked by central fructose administration reduce hypothalamic malonyl-CoA level and thereby increase food intake. These findings explain the paradoxical fructose effect on food intake and lend credence to the malonyl-CoA hypothesis.acetyl-CoA carboxylase ͉ AMP kinase ͉ high-fructose corn syrup ͉ hypothalamic ATP ͉ obesity O ver the past three decades there has been an alarming increase in the incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States (1). Particularly troubling is the rise of these conditions in youth (2). Paralleling this rise has been the extensive use of high-fructose sweeteners in the diet and increasing evidence that fructose may be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic (3). These correlations are consistent with the finding that high-fructose diets promote insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and increased rates of hepatic lipogenesis in laboratory animals (4).Although both glucose and fructose enter metabolism via the glycolytic pathway, the initial steps of hepatic fructose metabolism differ from those of glucose. Likewise, recent evidence suggests that sugar metabolism in regions of the central nervous system (CNS) that control food intake and energy expenditure, fructose metabolism also differs from that of glucose. It is known that the initial steps of hepatic fructose metabolism use a different set of enzymes that allow this sugar to bypass the rate-limiting step [catalyzed by phosphofructokinase (PFK)] in the glycolytic pathway. Similar enzymes of fructose metabolism are found in regions of the CNS that play an important role in monitoring energy balance and satiety control (5-7). These findings are consistent with a recent report (ref. 8 and findings reported herein) that centrally-administered fructose provokes feeding. In contrast, the central administration of glucose causes satiety (8,9). In this article, we provide a molecular basis for these differences. It should be noted, however, that uncertainty remains regarding the extent to which fructose in systemic circulation can cross the blood-brain barrier to enter these regions of the brain ...