Individual effects of estradiol and progesterone on food intake and body weight in ovariectomized binge rats

The individual roles of estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) in the control of food intake and body weight in ovariectomized (OVX) rats were investigated. Six groups of OVX Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 9/group) were assigned to one of three 4-day cyclic hormone treatments: two groups were treated with E benzoate; two groups were treated with P; two groups were treated with both (EP). All rats had continuous access to chow and water throughout this 4-week study. One group of rats within each hormone treatment condition was fed chow ad libitum, and the second was subjected to a binge schedule: chow ad libitum plus 1-h access to an optional fat source on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A seventh OVX group (n = 8) received the oil vehicle and chow. This group was included to monitor body weight and to verify hormone efficacy. The main findings were: (1) relative to rats receiving only P, E alone or EP attenuated 24-h chow intake tonically and cyclically, i.e. intake on Day 4, which models estrus, was lower in E and EP than in P, and also was lower than intake on Day 2, which models diestrus. In contrast, (2) neither E nor EP detectably affected optional fat intake during the 1-h fat access period relative to rats receiving only P when data were collapsed across the entire study. However, (3) E and EP had large effects on fat intake relative to P during the 1-h fat access period at the start of the study, but not at the end, when bingeing was fully established. (4) E and EP led to lower and apparently normal levels of body weight compared to rats receiving only the oil vehicle or only P. These results indicate that (1) administration of E alone has similar effects as co-administration of E and P on feeding and body weight in rats bingeing on fat, (2) with or without P, the inhibitory effects of E on meal size are compromised when bingeing on fat, and (3) the effects of E on binge size change dynamically as bingeing develops.