March 18, 2012
Study
finds rejected male flies have a tiny neuropeptide F molecule in their
brain that pushes them to drink far more than their sexually satisfied
counterparts. — Afp pic
WASHINGTON, March 18 — Frustrated
male fruit flies, whose sexual advances are rejected by females, turn to
alcohol to drown their sorrows, a study revealed.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered
that rejected male flies have a tiny neuropeptide F molecule in their
brain that pushes them to drink far more than their sexually satisfied
counterparts.
The levels of the molecule were higher in sexually satisfied males
than in those who got no sex, leading scientists to speculate that their
work could shed light on brain mechanisms behind human addiction. A
similar human molecule — neuropeptide Y — may also link social triggers
to behaviours such as heavy drinking and drug abuse, according to the
study published in Science journal.
“If neuropeptide Y turns out to be the transducer between the state
of the psyche and the drive to abuse alcohol and drugs, one could
develop therapies to inhibit neuropeptide Y receptors,” said lead
researcher Ulrike Heberlein, a professor of anatomy and neurology at
UCSF.
She said clinical trials were underway to determine whether
neuropeptide Y can alleviate anxiety and other mood disorders as well as
obesity.
For the experiment, male fruit flies were placed in a container with
females flies, including both virgins and some that had already mated.
Virgin females were receptive to courting males and readily mated,
but females flies who had mated lost interest in sex for a time because
of sex peptide, a substance that males inject with sperm during the
encounter.
Rejected males then stopped trying to mate, even when placed in the same cage as virgin flies.
But when they were placed by themselves in another container that had
two straws — one containing plain food and the other containing food
with 15 percent alcohol — the rejected males binged on the alcohol.
The scientists said the behavior was predicted by the levels of neuropeptide F in their brains.
“It’s a switch that represents the level of reward in the brain and
translates it into reward-seeking behavior,” said lead author Galit
Shohat-Ophir of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm
Research Centre in Virginia.
Rejected flies had lower levels of neuropeptide F and sought an
alternative reward through intoxication. The scientists found that they
could induce the same behaviours in the flies by genetically
manipulating the levels of neuropeptide F in their brains.
Activating neuropeptide F production in the brains of virgin male
flies caused them to behave as though they were sexually satisfied, and
thus they were less keen to drink.
And lowering the levels of the molecule in sexually satisfied flies
made them behave as though they were rejected, inciting them to drink
more. — Afp-Relaxnews
What an interesting study! At least, now I know a human and a fruit fly have something in common!
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