Nutritional intake is closely linked to gonadal development, although the mechanisms by which food intake affects gonadal development are not fully understood. Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a satiety neuropeptide derived from the hypothalamus, and the present study observed that hypothalamic CCK expression is significantly influenced by food intake, which is mediated through blood glucose levels. Interestingly, CCK and its receptors were observed to exhibit a high expression in the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis of grass carp (), suggesting that CCK is potentially involved in regulating fish reproduction through the HPG axis. Further investigations revealed that CCK could significantly stimulate the expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-3 (GnRH3) in the hypothalamus. In addition, single-cell RNA sequencing showed that was highly enriched in pituitary follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) cells. Further study confirmed that CCK can significantly induce FSH synthesis and secretion in primary cultured pituitary cells. Additionally, with primary cultured ovary cells as a model, the in vitro experiment demonstrated that CCK directly induces the expression of , , and mRNA. This indicates that hypothalamic CCK may act as a nutrient sensor involved in regulating gonadal development in teleosts.
