Reduced melanocortin tone mediates increased feeding during pregnancy in mice

However, the molecular and neural circuit mechanisms mediating increased feeding during pregnancy are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that arcuate nucleus agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons are activated and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons are inhibited during pregnancy in mice.

These changes are required for promoting hyperphagia during pregnancy as chemogenetic inhibition of AgRP neurons or activation of POMC neurons both reduced the feeding of pregnant mice to nonpregnant levels. Finally, we utilized single cell resolution spatial transcriptomics in the arcuate nucleus of non-pregnant and pregnant mice to characterize pregnancy-induced changes in the transcriptomic state of arcuate nucleus neurons, including significant changes in both AgRP and POMC neurons.