Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino acid peptide hormone found in the neural system and has an important role in obesity. The main effect of NPY is increased food intake and decreased physical activity. It also increases the proportion of energy stored as fat and blocks nociceptive signals to the brain. In addition to its role in obesity, NPY has been associated with a number of other physiologic processes in the brain, including the regulation of energy balance, memory and learning, and epilepsy.
Animal studies strongly demonstrate that the stimulation of NPYergic activity via the administration of certain NPY agonists increases food intake compared to control animals. The effects of NPYergic activity on food intake is also demonstrated by the blockade of certain NPY receptors (Y1 and Y5 receptors), which expectedly inhibited NPYergic activity; thus, decreases food intake. For its role in obesity, an increase in NPY is caused by high levels of glucocorticosteriods through directly activating type II glucocorticosteriods receptors and indirectly, by abolishing the negative feedback of CRF on NPY synthesis and release. Meanwhile, obesity-induced insulin resistance and the mutation of the leptin receptor (ObRb) results in the abolishment of other negative feedback mechanisms to regulate NPYergic activity and ultimately food intake. High levels of NPY were also found in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with anorexia nervosa.

The antibody is stable for at least 1 year from the date of receipt when stored at -20°C to -70°C. Reconstituted antibody can also be aliquotted and stored at 4°C for 1 month or at -20°C to -70°C in a manual defrost freezer for many months without detectable loss activity. Please avoid freeze-thaw cycles.

The rabbit anti-human Neuropeptide Y antibody detects specifically target derived from cellular proteins at various concentrations. Cross reactivity with mouse and rat are expected from sequence similarity.