A recent study entitled "Neuropeptide Y and leptin receptor expression in the hypothalamus of rats with chronic immobilization stress" showed that the body weight and food intake of rats subjected to chronic immobilization stress were significantly decreased; the expression of leptin receptor and the co-localization coeffient in these leptic receptor neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus were both upregulated, while the number of neuropeptide Y neurons was decreased.
These findings which were in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 18, 2013) indicated that chronic immobilization stress induced high expression of leptin receptor in the arcuate nucleus and suppressed the synthesis and secretion of neuropeptide Y, thereby disrupting the pathways in the arcuate nucleus that regulate feeding behavior, resulting in diminished food intake and reduced body weight.