The ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) is located in the tuberal region of the hypothalamus and is traditionally considered the satiety center. In obese Zucker rats, which express a mutation in the leptin receptor gene and exhibit obesity from the first weeks of life, the morphology of VMH neurons is unknown. In the present study, we found that the dendritic length of VMH neurons in obese Zucker rats was significantly shorter than that in Long Evans rats. This finding allows us to suggest that obese Zucker rats exhibit both neuronal metabolic alterations related to leptin and a reduction in the flow of information within the neuronal circuits in which the VMH nucleus participates to regulate foraging.

下丘脑腹内侧核 (VMH) 位于下丘脑的结节区域，传统上被认为是饱腹感中枢。在肥胖的 Zucker 大鼠中，瘦素受体基因表达突变并在出生后的最初几周表现出肥胖，VMH 神经元的形态尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们发现肥胖 Zucker 大鼠 VMH 神经元的树突长度明显短于 Long Evans 大鼠。这一发现使我们能够表明，肥胖的 Zucker 大鼠表现出与瘦素相关的神经元代谢改变和 VMH 核参与调节觅食的神经元回路内的信息流减少。