Modes of action of gallic acid in suppressing food intake of rats.
Gallic acid (3,4,5,trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a naturally occurring polyphenol comprising the major hydrolytic product of tannic acid. Gallic acid and tannic acid were previously shown to suppress food intake of animals to a similar extent. However, the mechanism by which this effect takes place has not been previously reported. Reported here is that the effect of gallic acid on food intake is not mediated entirely through taste aversion or through other gastrointestinal factors, since a continuous daily infusion of a gallic acid solution (18 ml; 2%) resulted in a significant reduction of food intake. The catechol moiety of gallic acid plays an important role in its suppression of food intake since administration of tis 4-0 methyl derivative was significantly less effective is suppressing food intake (P less than 0.01). The effectiveness of gallic acid in suppressing food intake diminishes with time, indicating adaptation to the consumption of this polyphenol. Propyl gallate is a more potent suppressor of food intake than gallic acid. Adaptation to the consumption of this polyphenol, it it exists at all, is much slower than with gallic.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005707:Gallic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007441:Intubation, Gastrointestinal; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008745:Methylation; D011435:Propyl Gallate / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013649:Taste
D005707:Gallic Acid; D011435:Propyl Gallate