The NK-3 tachykinin agonist senktide elicits yawning and chewing mouth movements following subcutaneous administration in the rat. Evidence for cholinergic mediation

✍ Scribed by A. J. Stoessl; C. T. Dourish; S. D. Iversen

• Book ID: 104651200
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 465 KB
• Volume: 95
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0033-3158
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00172963

✦ Synopsis

The selective NK-3 tachykinin receptor agonist senktide elicited yawning, chewing mouth movements and sexual arousal following subcutaneous administration (0.1-1.0 mg/kg) in the rat. These responses were not significantly affected by the dopamine antagonist haloperidol (0.03 mg/kg) or by 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal projection. In contrast, the behaviours were markedly attenuated by the peripheral and central muscarinic antagonist scopolamine (1 mg/kg), but not by the peripheral muscarinic antagonist N-methylscopolamine (1 mg/kg). These f'mdings suggest that stimulation of NK-3 receptors produces yawning, chewing and sexual arousal by directly activating central cholinergic neurons.