Feeding elicited by injections of Ca++ and Mg++ into the third ventricle of sheep

Calcium: taste, intake, and appetite

This review summarizes research on sensory and behavioral aspects of calcium homeostasis. These are fragmented fields, with essentially independent lines of research involving gustatory electrophysiology in amphibians, ethological studies in wild birds, nutritional studies in poultry, and experimental behavioral studies focused primarily on characterizing the specificity of the appetite in rats. Recently, investigators have begun to examine potential physiological mechanisms underlying calcium intake and appetite. These include changes in the taste perception of calcium, signals related to blood calcium concentrations, and actions of the primary hormones of calcium homeostasis: parathyroid hormone, calcitonin, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Other influences on calcium intake include reproductive and adrenal hormones and learning. The possibility that a calcium appetite exists in humans is discussed. The broad range of observations documenting the existence of a behavioral limb of calcium homeostasis provides a strong foundation for future genetic and physiological analyses of this behavior.

Dipsogenic and feeding influences of intraventricularly infused anionic choline solutions

Chloride and bicarbonate solutions of choline were infused into the anteroventral part of the third ventricle of two different groups of rats through chronically implanted stainless steel cannulae. Dipsogenic and feeding responses elicited by these solutions were studied by observations taken at half hour intervals up to two h and then, after 24 h of infusions. Results were compared with the control response evoked by similar infusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF). Food and water intakes were recorded in different groups (n = 18 each) of rats. Dipsogenic response elicited by choline chloride solution in the observation taken 24 h after infusion, however, was higher only as compared to the control. Dipsogenic effect of bicarbonate solution was not significantly different from the control in the first two observations (30 and 60 min), but in the later observations (90, 120 min and 24 h), it was significantly higher. None of the choline solutions significantly alter feeding response within 2 h of infusions. However, in the observation taken 24 h after infusion, the response evoked by choline chloride was greater than that elicited by aCSF. The results support our earlier observation that chloride concentration of third ventricular CSF significantly influences water and food consumption. Intraventricularly administered choline also appears to have positive influence on these behaviors.

Ionostatic control of food intake in the domestic fowl

It has been suggested that there is ionostatic control of food intake in which calcium, acting in the hypothalamus, alters food intake. This study was conducted to determine the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of calcium on food and water intake in both broiler and Leghorn cockerels. The ICV injection of 50, 100, or 150 mM CaCl2 had no significant affect on food or water intake in Leghorn cockerels. In broilers, the ICV injection of 50 mM CaCl2 significantly increased food intake. This effect appeared to be due to Ca++ as equivalent amounts of Cl- given as NaCl had no effect on food intake nor did isosmotic solutions of NaCl. The effect of Ca++ on water intake in broilers is equivocal as it increased water intake in one experiment while decreasing it in another. Whereas these results support the hypothesis of a role for calcium in food intake regulation in broilers, they do not support the existence of a specific ionostatic control mechanism.

Influence of intracerebroventricularly infused anions on feeding response

Chloride and bicarbonate solutions of potassium, calcium, sodium, and barium were infused into the third ventricle of the rats to observe the influence of anions on feeding response. Stainless steel cannulae were chronically implanted into the anteroventral part of the third ventricle of 54 rats, which were divided in 9 equal groups. While the control group was given 10 microliters of artificial cerebrospinal fluid intraventricularly, the remaining 8 groups received the equal quantity (10 microliters) of one of the hypertonic equimolar test solutions. Chloride solutions of potassium, calcium, and barium evoked significantly (p less than 0.05) higher feeding than the control group, while none of the bicarbonate solutions influenced feeding significantly. Chloride solutions of all the 4 cations elicited significantly (p less than 0.05) higher feeding than the corresponding bicarbonate solutions in 24 hr. It was observed that though the cations differed, there was no significant difference in the responses elicited by the different chloride solutions. Similarly, various bicarbonate solutions elicited similar responses. Osmolality and pH of the infusion solution have not influenced feeding significantly. It is concluded that the anionic, but not the cationic concentration of the fluid bathing juxtacerebroventricular sensors, predominantly influence the feeding response.

Calmodulin-induced feeding in the satiated cat: evidence for involvement of calcium and norepinephrine in the brain

The central effect of the Ca++ binding protein, calmodulin (CaM) on spontaneous feeding as well as on core temperature was examined in the satiated cat in which chronically indwelling cannulae were permanently implanted for intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion. When CaM was injected ICV in doses of 2.5-10.0 micrograms, the intake of food was significantly enhanced in the satiated cat without any notable change in the animal's core temperature. Ca++ ions infused similarly in a solution of 6.25-25.0 mM also augmented the spontaneous ingestion of food, which was accompanied by a concentration-related decline in core temperature. When infused separately, neither CaM in a low dose (1.25 micrograms) nor Ca++ ions (3.0 mM) given ICV altered the intake of food of the satiated cat. However, the simultaneous infusion of CaM and Ca in these concentrations enhanced significantly the amount of food consumed by as much as 60 g. When the same concentration of Ca++ ions was infused ICV simultaneously with 5.0 micrograms troponin C, a Ca++ binding protein of an identical molecular weight, the intake of food was unaltered. Further, the spontaneous feeding induced by CaM could be attenuated either by the central chelation of Ca++ ions by 1.0-1.5 mM EGTA or by 30 micrograms calcineurin, a specific CaM inhibitor, when either was given ICV. Pre-treatment of the cat with ICV phentolamine (50 micrograms) also reduced the CaM-induced feeding response significantly, whereas the similar pre-treatment with ICV propranolol (50 micrograms) or naloxone (100 micrograms) failed to affect CaM-induced feeding behavior.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Calmodulin infused intracerebroventricularly enhances food intake in the cat

In the fasted cat, calmodulin (CaM) infused into the cerebral ventricle produces an increase in the normal intake of food in a dose-dependent manner. The enhancement of feeding by CaM seems to be functionally specific since the response was: (1) abolished by the simultaneous intraventricular infusion of calcineurin, a specific CaM antagonist; (2) not mimicked by another calcium binding protein, troponin C; and (3) independent of the CaM's lack of effect on body temperature and water intake. This finding opens up the dual possibility that this Ca2+ binding protein may affect receptors other than intracellularly and that CaM is involved in specific functions controlled by the brain.

Presence of immunoreactive calcitonin in the hypothalamus and pituitary lobes of rats

We have found calcitonin-like immunoreactive material in extracts of hypothalami from six-month old, male rats. The level of this immunoreactivity, 0.21 ng/hypothalamus, is substantial considering out lower limit of detection of 0.006 ng of rat calcitonin. However, the hypothalamus contains less calcitonin-like immunoreactive material than either the anterior lobe (1.16 ng) or neurointermediate lobe (0.81 ng) of the pituitary. Taken together these three sources of calcitonin-like immunoreactive material contain less than one thousandth the immunoreactivity found in the thyroid. The exact nature of the calcitonin-like immunoreactive material found in these extrathyroidal sites and its physiological role, if any, remain to be discovered. The recent report of the occurrence of calcitonin receptors in the hypothalamus and other brain regions in conjunction with our finding of calcitonin-like immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus suggests that calcitonin-like molecules may be active within the brain.

Feeding and temperature changes in sheep following injections of barbiturates, Ca-++, or Mg-++ into the lateral, third, or fourth ventricle or cerebral aqueduct

Eleven sheep were prepared with cannula guides directed toward four areas within the ventricular system to determine effective sites of action of chemicals which when injected into the cerebrospinal fluid produce changes in feeding behavior and temperature regulation. Pentobarbital, barbital, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride elicited feeding in sheep when injected into the third ventricle or into the cerebral aqueduct; however, feeding response was less after injections into the latter. Pentobarbital and magnesium chloride elicited an increase in body temperature when injected into the third ventricle but not when injected into the cerebral aqueduct. Perfusions (push-pull) of the lateral and third ventricles with calcium chloride and magnesium chloride solutions (50 mM) resulted in feeding while similar perfusions of the fourth ventricle resulted in no response. Responses to lateral and third ventricular injections presumably involved effects on both anterior and posterior hypothalamic areas while injections into the cerebral aqueduct, due to the caudal flux of the cerebrospinal fluid, may have affected primarily only the posterior hypothalamus and more caudal structures. The feeding response probably resulted from depression of neural fibers which inhibit feeding.

Feeding following intrahypothalamic injections of calcium and magnesium ions in sheep

To study ionic effects on hypothalamic control of feeding, seven sheep were each prepared with six bilateral medial-hypothalamic guides. Hypothalamic loci were identified where feeding resulted following 1 mu 1 injections of calcium chloride and/or magnesium chloride. Doses of 1 and 2 mumol were most effective to induce feeding, and potassium chloride was not effective. Injections of phentolamine, LB-46, carbachol, atropine, or prostaglandin E1 did not inhibit the feeding responses following magnesium chloride injections into magnesium ion responsive loci. Feeding following calcium chloride injections into calcium ion responsive loci was blocked by atropine and reduced by phentolamine. Carbachol and prostaglandin E1 elicited feeding when injected into magnesium but not calcium ion responsive loci. Injections of carbachol followed by magnesium chloride resulted in greater feeding than when either chemical was injected alone. Calcium and/or magnesium ion bound feeding loci were in the anterior, ventromedial, dorsomedial, posterior and lateral hypothalamus, and the mammillary bodies. These ions elicited feeding in sheep perhaps by decreasing excitability of feeding-inhibitory neural pathways in the hypothalamus.