The appetite suppressant, d-fenfluramine, decreases self-stimulation at a feeding site in the lateral hypothalamus.
In prior studies rats showed a relative shift from self-stimulation to escape (i.e., from reward to aversion) following a large meal, obesity or anorectic doses of insulin. Racemic fenfluramine, on the other hand, decreased both self-stimulation and escape suggesting it had a general behavior suppressant property. To avoid the depressive, antidopaminergic effects of the l-isomer, this study tested the d-isomer which is primarily serotonergic. Rats were screened for stimulation-induced feeding and then trained to self-stimulate with one lever in 5-min periods that alternated with 5-min periods of automatic stimulation from which the animal could escape with a different lever. d-Fenfluramine (1.5-4.5 mg/kg IP) caused a dose-related decrease in self-stimulation. Stimulation-escape was relatively unaffected. This is interpreted as a decrease in feeding reward due to d-fenfluramine.
McClelland
R C
RC
Department of Psychology, Princeton University, NJ 08544.
Sarfaty
T
T
Hernandez
L
L
Hoebel
B G
BG
D000818:Animals; D001067:Appetite Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005277:Fenfluramine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007033:Hypothalamus, Middle / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012653:Self Stimulation
D001067:Appetite Depressants; D005277:Fenfluramine