Effects of hypothalamic knife cuts on the ingestive responses to glucose and insulin.

Parasagittal knife cuts through the perifornical hypothalamus either medial or lateral to the fornix produced hyperphagia and obesity and altered the rat's ingestive responses to dilute glucose solutions. The lateral knife cut rats drank less dilute glucose solution under both nondeprived and food deprived conditions and displayed less of a feeding suppressive response to glucose ingestion compared to controls. The lateral cut rats were also deficient in their feeding response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, although their altered sensitivity to glucose and insulin did not appear to be causally related. The medial knife cuts decreased the responsivity to glucose, but less so than the lateral cuts, and did not alter the ingestive response to insulin. Both the medial and lateral knife cuts did not appear to change the rat's responsivity to concentrated blucose solutions. The neuroanatomical and functional nature of the disorder responsible for these effects and its relationship to the hyper-phagia-obesity syndrome are discussed.     

Gastrointestinal Contributions to the Postprandial Experience

Food ingestion induces homeostatic sensations (satiety, fullness) with a hedonic dimension (satisfaction, changes in mood) that characterize the postprandial experience. Both types of sensation are secondary to intraluminal stimuli produced by the food itself, as well as to the activity of the digestive tract. Postprandial sensations also depend on the nutrient composition of the meal and on colonic fermentation of non-absorbed residues. Gastrointestinal function and the sensitivity of the digestive tract, i.e., perception of gut stimuli, are determined by inherent individual factors, e.g., sex, and can be modulated by different conditioning mechanisms. This narrative review examines the factors that determine perception of digestive stimuli and the postprandial experience.     

Gastric Sensory and Motor Functions and Energy Intake in Health and Obesity—Therapeutic Implications

Sensory and motor functions of the stomach, including gastric emptying and accommodation, have significant effects on energy consumption and appetite. Obesity is characterized by energy imbalance; altered gastric functions, such as rapid gastric emptying and large fasting gastric volume in obesity, may result in increased food intake prior to reaching usual fullness and increased appetite. Thus, many different interventions for obesity, including different diets, anti-obesity medications, bariatric endoscopy, and surgery, alter gastric functions and gastrointestinal motility. In this review, we focus on the role of the gastric and intestinal functions in food intake, pathophysiology of obesity, and obesity management.     

Behavioural analysis of the anorectic effects of fluoxetine and fenfluramine

Two sets of experiments were carried out to compare the effects of fenfluramine and fluoxetine on consummatory and operant behaviour. In food-deprived rats allowed access to a 35% sucrose solution, an initial period of sucrose consumption was followed by a short period of grooming and exploratory behaviour, later superceded by resting. This behavioural satiety sequence was advanced by fluoxetine, but disrupted bydl-fenfluramine, which suppressed post-prandial resting, even at sub-anorectic doses. Fluoxetine also elicited resting behaviour following water drinking. However, this did not appear to be a non-specific sedative effect, since fluoxetine increased post-prandial grooming. In rats performing on random interval schedules of food reinforcement, fluoxetine caused proportionally greater decreases in responding on a reinforcement-lean schedule (RI-300s), as compared to a reinforcement-rich schedule (RI-7.5s); this effect is similar to that of a reduction in level of food deprivation. By contrast, fenfluramine reduced responding equally on both schedules. In both paradigms, the effects of fluoxetine were compatible with an increase in postprandial satiety, but the effects of fenfluramine were not.     

Recollections of pioneers in nutrition: fifty years in nutrition.

Objectives: To determine glycemic, insulinemic, and satiety indices of 3 types of kefir.

Methods: This study was divided into 3 phases. In phase 1, 50 g of available carbohydrate from low-fat strawberry kefir or orange kefir was tested, and in phase 2, low-fat plain kefir containing 25 g of available carbohydrates was tested for glycemic index (GI), in both cases compared with an equivalent amount of glucose. In phase 3, 1000-kJ portions of all 3 types of kefirs were compared with white bread with the same energy content to determine the insulinemic index (II) and satiety index (SI) of all 3 kefirs. In all phases, a single-meal, randomized crossover design was performed in which the test meals were given to healthy adults, 5 men and 5 women.

Results: The total incremental plasma glucose area under the curve (iAUC) for strawberry, orange, and plain kefirs was significantly lower compared with the respective high-GI control food, which was glucose solution. However, the IIs and SIs of kefir did not differ significantly from the white bread.

Conclusion: Kefir is a low- to moderate-GI food; however, its II was high. Although kefir had higher water content, the SI of kefir was not significantly different from white bread.     

Hunger and the perception of the scent of petrol: A potential neurobiological basis for increased risk of petrol inhalation abuse

The deliberate inhalation of petrol as a means of intoxication used by underage and marginalized social groups is a growing international problem. This type of abuse has been identified as the cause of severe physical, cognitive, and psychological impairment. Both of these factors have heightened the need for identifying causes underlying why individuals begin abusing petrol. One hundred Australian male adults were surveyed while they were filling their cars with petrol. While the individuals were exposed to ambient petrol, they were asked to rate how pleasant and intense they found the smell of the petrol and the number of hours since they last ate a meal. Significant positive correlations between hunger and ratings of both pleasantness and intensity of petrol odor were identified. The results from this study suggest that hunger, and more specifically saturated fat consumption, may influence an individual's decision to abuse petrol. Suggestions for further research and related public health considerations are discussed.     

Preface

Nine patients (4F, 5M) aged 12-17 years with “fear of obesity” were studied with a sequential stimulation test utilizing insulin, LRH, TRH, and L-dopa. The comparative groups were nine female with classic anorexia nervosa, five males with undifferentiated nutritional dwarfing, and nine children (1F, 8M) with constitutional growth delay. The serum TSH, glucose, cortisol, somatotropin, prolactin, LH, and FSH were sampled periodically over 2 hours. Basal T3, T4, transferrin, and Somatomedin-C levels were also obtained. The “fear of obesity” patients did not have any pituitary function changes that were unique. These patients, as well as the comparison groups, revealed a delayed TSH response in proportion to the weight deficit which, when expressed as an integrated response, correlated well to the weight deficit for height (P less than 0.001) and to the ability to recover from hypoglycemia (p less than 0.001). The Somatomedin-C level was low and correlated to the T3 level (p less than 0.05) and not correlated to the elevated Somatotropin levels. The pituitary response to combined stimulation in patients with fear of obesity was determined to be a component of the spectrum starting at normal and proceeding to the extreme undernutrition of anorexia nervosa. Pituitary responsiveness, therefore, changes not as a function of the etiology of the malnutrition, but simply as a function of its severity.     

Weak Satiety Responsiveness Is a Reliable Trait Associated with Hedonic Risk Factors for Overeating among Women

Some individuals exhibit a weak satiety response to food and may be susceptible to overconsumption. The current study identified women showing consistently low or high satiety responses to standardised servings of food across four separate days and compared them on behavioural, psychological and physiological risk factors for overeating and future weight gain. In a crossover design, 30 female participants (age: 28.0 ± 10.6; body mass index (BMI): 23.1 ± 3.0) recorded sensations of hunger in the post-prandial period following four graded energy level breakfasts. Satiety quotients were calculated to compare individuals on satiety responsiveness across conditions. Body composition, resting metabolic rate (RMR), energy intake, food reward and craving, and eating behaviour traits were assessed under controlled laboratory conditions. A distinct low satiety phenotype (LSP) was identified with good consistency across separate study days. These individuals had a higher RMR, greater levels of disinhibition and reported feeling lower control over food cravings. Further, they consumed more energy and exhibited greater wanting for high-fat food. The inverse pattern of characteristics was observed in those exhibiting a consistently high satiety phenotype (HSP). Weak satiety responsiveness is a reliable trait identifiable using the satiety quotient. The LSP was characterised by distinct behavioural and psychological characteristics indicating a risk for overeating, compared to HSP.     

Colestyramine slows gastric emptying of liquids and reduces appetite in healthy subjects

Background There is evidence to suggest that the particulate resin colestyramine, a bile acid sequestrant formerly used as a cholesterol‐lowering agent, enhances secretion of the gut hormone cholecystokinin (CCK). Established physiological actions of CCK include inhibition of gastric emptying and induction of satiation. This study evaluated the hypothesis that colestyramine, which is luminally retained, would slow gastric emptying of liquids and suppress appetite in humans. Methods Nine healthy volunteers consumed 500 mL liquid test meals containing 4 g colestyramine, 12 g colestyramine, or control (water alone), on three occasions, in a randomized order. The effect of colestyramine on gastric emptying was determined non‐invasively using the ¹³C‐acetate breath test, and appetite and other gut‐centered sensations were rated using visual analog scale questionnaires. Key Results Colestyramine dose dependently slowed liquid gastric emptying compared with control (water) (4 g vs control, ～20% reduction, P < 0.05; 12 g vs control, ～35% reduction, P < 0.01). Colestyramine also significantly reduced hunger (4 g vs control, ～20% reduction, P < 0.01), and the amount of food participants felt able to eat (12 g vs control, ～32% reduction, P < 0.001), but increased bloating (both doses, P < 0.05), with no effect on ratings of nausea. Conclusions & Inferences This study provides the first evidence that colestyramine significantly slows liquid gastric emptying and reduces appetite in healthy humans. Colestyramine therefore presents an attractive gut‐brain signaling research tool in that it is not absorbed and thus lacks potentially confounding postabsorptive effects. Furthermore, with clear effects on gastric emptying and appetite, colestyramine now merits consideration as a trial therapeutic strategy for appetite suppression and weight loss.