Current data have demonstrated that nicotine-induced activation of hypothalamic α3β4-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors leads to activation of POMC neurons and decreased feeding (3). Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether these receptors were also mediating the actions of nicotine on AMPK. Our data show that cotreatment with mecamylamine, an antagonist of α3β4 receptors (3,30,31), blunted nicotine-induced weight loss (Fig. 3A) anorexia (Fig. 3B) and inhibition of AMPK (Fig. 3C). Overall, these results indicated that α3β4 receptors mediated the effects of nicotine on hypothalamic AMPK.
