title: Structural characteristics of endogenous sugar acids and relations to feeding modulation.
abstract: Structural specificity among short-chain organic acids for effects on feeding behavior, blood glucose and insulin was investigated by infusion of 1 exogenous and 6 endogenous derivatives into the rat third cerebral ventricle. Glyceric acid (GEA) (1.0 mumol), 3,4-dihydroxybutanoic acid gamma-lactone (3,4-DB) and 3,4,5-trihydroxypentanoic acid gamma-lactone (3,4,5-TP) (2.50 mumol) decreased food intake for, at most, 24 h. These acids depressed the size of the first meal after infusion, but did not affect latency to the first meal, eating speed, drinking or ambulation. Infusion of 2,4-dihydroxybutanoic acid gamma-lactone (2,4-DB) (1.25 mumol), 2,4,5-trihydroxypentanoic acid gamma-lactone (2,4,5-TP), and an exogenous compound, 2,4,5,6-tetrahydroxyhexanoic acid gamma-lactone (2,4,5,6-TH) (2.50 mumol), induced transient initial feeding which was not necessarily accompanied by periprandial drinking. Ambulation was concomitantly increased. Of these organic acids, 3,4-DB and 2,4,5-TP were most potent in their effects on feeding. Hyperglycemia was induced by 2.50 mumol 3,4-DB leaving insulin unaffected; 2.50 mumol 2,4,5-TP caused hypoglycemia, with a persistent but not significant rise in insulin. The results suggest that slight structural differences of endogenous organic acids, in particular the positions of hydroxyl groups on the lactone ring of 4-butanolide, may be important in feeding modulation by conveying intrinsically reciprocal signals to neurons involved in feeding and satiety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arase
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurata
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukagawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Steffens
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oomura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013400:Sugar Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D013400:Sugar Acids