The effect of liver denervation on the consumption of various diets by rats

Liver afferents have been proposed to influence food intake control, however, previous studies have shown that chow (pellet) intake is apparently not altered in total liver denervated rats. The present study explored whether total liver denervation could alter the rats' intake of various diets other than chow pellets. Total liver denervations were verified using staining histological and monoamine histofluorescence techniques. The denervated and sham operated rats were given short-term (4-6 days) exposure to four diets: (diet 1, chow plus a 32% w/v sucrose-water solution; diet 2, 1:1 mixture of powdered chow and granular glucose; diet 3, 33% w/w Crisco and powdered chow mixture and diet 4, a 5% w/v glucose-water solution plus chow. Body weight gains were not affected-by either surgery or diet exposure. Daily consumptions of the diets were similar in both groups, nevertheless, there was a trend for the denervated rats to consume slightly more of a high fat diet, which lends support for one hypothesized liver satiety mechanism. Also, the denervated rats consumed less (an average 5 kcal/day) of the 5% glucose solution (one hypothesis tested would predict an increase consumption of glucose by the denervated rats). Thus the liver may play a role, albeit small, through several ill defined mechanism(s) in the regulation of feeding.