Abstract
The hypothalamus is involved in the regulatory pathways of various clinically important physiological processes. Genes of many neuropeptides and neurotransmitters affecting homeostasis of the organism are expressed in its regions.
It was proved, that the regulation centre of feeding behaviour is localized in the hypothalamus and recent investigations revealed detailed knowledge and identification of new neuropeptides. In this review article we focused on hypothalamic regions and neuropeptides associated with feeding behaviour of the individual, such as neuropeptide Y, galanin, endogenous opioid peptides, melaninconcentrating hormone, glutamate, γ-aminobutyric acid, orexins (hypocretins), corticotropinreleasing hormone family of peptides, neurotensin, glucagon-like peptide-1, melanocortin, cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript, agouti protein and agouti-related protein.