Objectives: 

Several studies have provided evidence of the association of cigarette smoking and decrease in body weight. Although it's well known the interaction of nicotine in the hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) route, is not yet clear if nicotine acts in the same way in high fat diet models, which are a reliable model of obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nicotine on hypothalamic AMPK and its effect on energy balance using a high fat diet rat model.

Materials: 

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed in high fat diet (D12451, Research Diets, Inc.) and were treated subcutaneously with nicotine (2mg/kg/12h) or saline during a 17 days period. One withdrawal group was created from the nicotine group. The tissue samples were analyzed with western blot.

Results: 

The rats treated with nicotine reduce their food intake and body weight compared with those treated with saline. Also, the food intake of nicotine withdrawal group returns to normal levels when the treatment with nicotine was ended.

Conclusions: 

In all the cases, nicotine effects are associated to changes in the hypothalamic AMPK pathway, indicating that this metabolic route is a canonical mediator of nicotine actions at central level.