Area postrema/nucleus of the solitary tract ablations: analysis of the effects of hypophagia.
The effect of hypophagia following lesions of the area postrema and caudal-medial aspect of the nucleus of the solitary tract AP/cmNTS) on body-weight, water intake and preference for palatable diets was examined. Following AP/cmNTS ablation, rats reduced pelleted-food intake to a degree which was sufficient to account for the weight loss and increased water:food ratios observed. Restricting food intakes of intact rats to levels taken by lesioned animals resulted in similar weight losses and increased water:food ratios. When offered both pelleted food and milk, lesioned rats took more calories as milk than did previously food-restricted intact rats. Thus, the hypophagia of AP/cmNTS lesioned rats does not account for their increased preference for milk diets. Lesioned rats ate less high-fat diet than did intact or sham-lesioned controls and did not increase their intakes when this diet was sweetened. At autopsy, retroperitoneal and epididymal fat-pad weights accounted for less of the total body weight of lesioned animals than controls suggesting that body-fat levels are reduced following AP/cmNTS ablation.
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000502:physiology*; D004326:Drinking; D004435:Eating; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000502:physiology*; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013649:Taste