The understanding of the biological substrates regulating feeding behavior is relevant to address the health problems related to food overconsumption. Several studies have expanded the conventional view of the homeostatic regulation of body weight mainly orchestrated by the hypothalamus, to include also the non-homeostatic control of appetite. Such processes include food reward and are mainly coordinated by the activation of the central mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway. The identification of endogenous systems acting as a bridge between homoeostatic and non-homeostatic pathways might represent a significant step toward the development of drugs for the treatment of aberrant eating patterns. Oxytocin is a hypothalamic hormone that is directly secreted into the brain and reaches the blood circulation through the neurohypophysis. Oxytocin regulates a variety of physiologic functions, including eating and metabolism. In the last years both preclinical and clinical studies well characterized oxytocin for its effects in reducing food intake and body weight. In the present review we summarize the role played by oxytocin in the control of both homeostatic and non-homeostatic eating, within cognitive, metabolic and reward mechanisms, to mostly highlight its potential therapeutic effects as a new pharmacological approach for the development of drugs for eating disorders. We conclude that the central oxytocinergic system is possibly one of the mechanisms that coordinate energy balance at the crossroads between homeostatic and non-homeostatic mechanisms. This concept should foster studies aimed at exploring the possible exploitation of oxytocin in the treatment of aberrant eating patterns. This article is part of the special issue on Neuropeptides.

中文翻译：

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催产素在饮食的神经控制中：处于稳态和非稳态信号之间的交汇处。

对调节喂养行为的生物底物的了解与解决与食物过量消费有关的健康问题有关。几项研究扩展了传统的关于由下丘脑精心组织的体重的体内平衡调节的观点，也包括了对食欲的非体内平衡控制。这样的过程包括食物奖励，并且主要通过中央中脑边缘多巴胺能途径的激活来协调。内源性系统的鉴定是在稳态和非稳态途径之间架起桥梁，这可能代表了开发用于治疗异常饮食方式的药物的重要一步。催产素是一种下丘脑激素，直接分泌到大脑中，并通过神经垂体到达血液循环。催产素调节各种生理功能，包括饮食和新陈代谢。在过去的几年中，临床前和临床研究都很好地表征了催产素在减少食物摄入和减轻体重方面的作用。在本综述中，我们总结了催产素在认知，代谢和奖赏机制内在控制稳态和非稳态进食中的作用，主要强调了其潜在的治疗作用，作为开发食用药物的新药理学方法疾病。我们得出的结论是，中央催产素系统可能是在稳态和非稳态机制交叉点协调能量平衡的机制之一。该概念应促进旨在探索催产素在异常饮食方式治疗中的开发的研究。本文是有关神经肽的特刊的一部分。