Hypothalamic obesity in weanling rats

The rise, fall, and resurrection of the ventromedial hypothalamus in the regulation of feeding behavior and body weight

Early researchers found that lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) resulted in hyperphagia and obesity in a variety of species including humans, which led them to designate the VMH as the brain's "satiety center." Many researchers later dismissed a role for the VMH in feeding behavior when Gold claimed that lesions restricted to the VMH did not result in overeating and that obesity was observed only with lesions or knife cuts that extended beyond the borders of the VMH and damaged or severed the ventral noradrenergic bundle (VNAB) or paraventricular nucleus (PVN). However, anatomical studies done both before and after Gold's study did not replicate his results with lesions, and in nearly every published direct comparison of VMH lesions vs. PVN or VNAB lesions, the group with VMH lesions ate substantially more food and gained twice as much weight. Several other important differences have also been found between VMH and both PVN and VNAB lesion-induced obesity. Concerns regarding (a) motivation to work for food and (b) the effects of nonirritative lesions have also been addressed and answered in many studies. Lesion studies with weanling rats and adult pair-tube-fed rats, as well as recent studies of knockout mice deficient in the orphan nuclear receptor steroidogenic factor 1, indicate that VMH lesion-induced obesity is in large part a metabolic obesity (due to autonomic nervous system disorders) independent of hyperphagia. However, there is ample evidence that the VMH also plays a primary role in feeding behavior. Neuroimaging studies in humans have shown a marked increase in activity in the area of the VMH during feeding. The VMH has a large population of glucoresponsive neurons that dynamically respond to blood glucose levels and numerous histamine, dopamine, serotonin, and GABA neurons that respond to feeding-related stimuli. Recent studies have implicated melanocortins in the VMH regulation of feeding behavior: food intake decreases when arcuate nucleus pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons activate VMH brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) neurons. Moderate hyperphagia and obesity have also been observed in female rats with damage to the efferent projections from the posterodorsal amygdala to the VMH. Hypothalamic obesity can result from damage to either the POMC or BDNF neurons. The concept of hypothalamic feeding and satiety centers is outdated and unnecessary, and progress in understanding hypothalamic mechanisms of feeding behavior will be achieved only by appreciating the different types of neural and blood-borne information received by the various nuclei, and then attempting to determine how this information is integrated to obtain a balance between energy intake and energy output.

Weanling ventromedial hypothalamic syndrome. bone geometry and biomechanics

The effect of growth-retarding, obesifying lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) on bone geometry and biomechanics was investigated in male weanling rats. The animals received bilateral, symmetrical, electrolytic lesions (VMNL rats) shortly after weanling (age 27 days); sham-operated rats served as controls (SCON). The rats were maintained for 42 postoperative days and then terminated. Body weight, nose-tail length, food intake, carcass water, and lean body mass were all significantly (p < 0.001) reduced in the VMNL group compared to SCON rats. Carcass fat, lipogenic efficiency (carcass fat % laid down/mean food intake) (both p < 0.001) and epididymal fat pad weight (p < 0.01) were significantly increased in VMNL versus SCON. Femur length, anteroposterior diameter (both p < 0.001), and mediolateral femur diameter (p < 0.01) were significantly reduced in VMNL versus SCON rats, but torque and angle of torque were comparable among the groups. VMNL rats femora also showed a significant greater maximum shear stress compared to the control animals. The reduced parameters in the VMNL rats are in good agreement with the previously demonstrated reduced plasma and pituitary growth hormone levels found in this hypothalamus preparation.

Activation of the rat melanin-concentrating hormone neurons by ventromedial hypothalamic lesions

The occurrence of a melanin-concentrating hormone-like peptide (MCH) was previously reported in the lateral hypothalamus of the rat. The sequence of this peptide was determined but its role as well as its regulation remain unclear. In the present study, we examined the effects of minor electrolytic lesions of the ventromedial nuclei (VMN) on MCH neurons by using immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization procedures. We report that VMN lesions resulted in (1) a clear elevation in the number and staining intensity of MCH immunoreactive perikarya and fibres, (2) a significant increase in the level of hybridocytochemical signal obtained with an oligonucleotide probe complementary to rMCH mRNA. These data provide evidence for a role of VMN in modulating the MCH gene a peptide expression.

Somatic parameters, organ growth, and plasma substrates in weanling rats with lateral hypothalamic lesions one month postoperatively

Somatic and some metabolic aspects of the syndrome that follows bilateral destruction of the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) have been studied primarily in mature rats. Fewer data are available for the weanling rat. Weanling Sprague-Dawley rats received small (10 mC) bilateral electrolytic lesions (LHAL). Sham-operated controls were pair-gained to LHAL rats (CON-PG) or fed ad lib (CON-ADLIB). All rats were killed 1 month after LHAL. Both LHAL and CON-PG weighed less, had less carcass fat, and were shorter than CON-ADLIB. Also, LHAL were somewhat, but significantly (SIGN), shorter than CON-PG. Rats with LHAL has less carcass protein than CON-ADLIB in percent but not in absolute terms. Liver, epididymal fat pads, diaphragm, kidneys adrenals, testes, spleen, and heart grew SIGN smaller in LHAL vs. CON-ADLIB, but in no instance was there a SIGN difference between LHAL and CON-PG. In body weight percentage, some of these differences (liver, kidneys, heart) were not SIGN. Both LHAL and CON-PG had larger adrenals than CON-ADLIB and both LHAL and CON-PG had SIGN less protein in their livers, epididymal fat pads, and diaphragm than CON-ADLIB. In organ weight percentage, however, LHAL rats had more protein in their livers and fat pads than CON-ADLIB and LHAL rats had less protein in fat pads than CON-PG in absolute but not in percent organ weight terms. Plasma glucose was similar in all groups, but LHAL had SIGN lower triglycerides and total cholesterol than CON-ADLIB.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effect of dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus lesions on kidney function and structure after 1 and 12 months

According to the Dillman theory (17), aging results from a deterioration of metabolism that begins with an elevation of hypothalamic receptor thresholds for feedback signals from the periphery. Three hypothalamic areas are known to contain such receptors: the ventromedial and dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei (DMN) and the lateral hypothalamic area. We have hypothesized that selective destruction of those hypothalamic areas might be followed by physiological changes associated with aging. Electrolytic bilateral DMN lesions were produced in male and female weanling rats. These rats were maintained for up to 13 months of age. Sham-operated rats served as controls. Food intake and body weight were monitored postoperatively and prior to sacrifice. Before sacrifice, tail blood and a 24-h urine samples were obtained. In accordance with previous findings, rats with DMN lesions showed dramatic reductions of ponderal growth and food intake but had normal body composition. Total protein and albumin excretion rates were significantly lower in rats with lesions. The fractional contribution of albumin to total urinary protein was also decreased in rats with lesions. Histological examination of the kidneys showed significantly less pathology in the kidneys of rats with DMN lesions; the severity of renal pathology was correlated directly with proteinuria. These changes were seen as early as 1 month after production of the lesion. The attenuation of age-related changes in kidney functions and structure in rats with lesions could be due to reduced food intake (dietary restriction is known to produce similar results), and/or a direct effect of the lesion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Hypophagic rats with dorsomedial hypothalamic lesions produce lighter and smaller pups with a lower survival rate at weaning than offspring of sham-operated controls

Weanling and mature rats with dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus lesions (DMNL rats) show reduced ponderal and linear growth and hypophagia and hypodipsia in the presence of normal body composition and anabolic hormone levels. The present study was conducted to assess their reproductive/parenting capacity and some offspring parameters. Four groups were used: DMNL mothers and fathers, DMNL mothers and control (SCON) fathers, SCON mothers and DMNL fathers, and SCON mothers and SCON fathers. The constituent rats of each group were bred to yield between 14 and 22 litters. The smallest litter size, litter weight, mean pup weight, percent of live-born and percent of weaned pups and greatest percentage of still-born pups were recorded when both parents were DMNL rats. The latter parents also cannibalized the majority of litters. The above parameters improved when only one parent was a DMNL rat, but this was still significantly below the offspring of SCON x SCON parents. The DMN is not part of the classical hypophysiotropic area (HTA), but earlier findings indicate hyperprolactinemia in DMNL rats. Therefore, the lesion-induced hypophagia during gestation and the postpartum neuroendocrine profile of the DMNL mothers may be the cause of the observed litter deficiencies and poor survival.

Ventromedial hypothalamic obesity: a reexamination of the irritative hypothesis

The basic assumption of brain research utilizing lesions is that any observed changes in behavior or physiological responses must be the result of tissue destruction. Reynolds suggested 25 years ago that in the case of electrolytic ventromedial hypothalamic lesions, the observed hyperphagia and obesity were due instead to metallic ion deposits from the electrode tip irritating adjacent tissue. His "irritative hypothesis" was largely ignored after others reported obesity in rats given nonirritative (i.e., no deposits) VMH lesions. However, recent studies have shown that the experimental observations by both Reynolds and his critics were correct and that the early discrepancies were largely due to the sex of the animals used in the experiments. Obesity can be produced with nonirritative VMH lesions, but the weight gain is only about 60% of that observed with irritative VMH lesions and the animals do not display the characteristic lesion-induced elevations in basal insulin levels. A new combination ablation-irritative hypothesis is proposed in which electrolytic VMH lesion obesity is attributed in part to tissue ablation and in part to metallic ion deposits stimulating (rather than disinhibiting) vagally mediated insulin responses.

Role of the basomedial hypothalamus in regulation of adiposity, food intake, and reproductive traits in the domestic fowl

Bilateral basomedial hypothalamic (BMH) electrolytic lesions in White Leghorn cockerels produced six main physiological categories characterized by typical sets of symptoms: 1) functional castration (FC); hyperphagia, obesity, occasional diabetes insipidus, involuted adenohypophysis, dwarfism, atrophied comb and testes, reduced hematocrit, reduced plasma testosterone and thyroid activity, involuted thymus and adrenal cortex and elevated liver fat and plasma triglycerides and free fatty acids. The FC birds demonstrated defective immune response for the first 12 to 16 wk post-surgery. 2) functional castration with large comb (FCLC); hyperphagia, obesity, transient diabetes insipidus, slight diminution of adenohypophy-seal weight with marked reduction in basophilic cell population, fully atrophied testes but only slight reduction in comb size and hematocrit, plasma testosterone levels between those found in the first category and the control. 3) obese with normal testes (ONT); hyperphagia, obesity, high level of plasma lipids, normal histological organization of the adenohypophysis, normal testes, semen production and comb size. The next three categories exhibited physiological syndromes identical to the former three categories except for food intake, which operationally could be defined as normal. A marked difference among the BMH-lesioned birds was found in sexual behavior when the FC birds completely lost their libido. None of the replacement therapy regimens caused complete rehabilitation from adiposity or restoration of reproductive traits. Lipoprotein lipase activity increased at an early stage postlesioning and preceeded the development of hyperphagia. Placement of BMH lesions in newly hatched chicks resulted in marked dwarfism and obesity without hyperphagia. The BMH-lesioned heavy breed White Rock cockerels exhibited a lesser degree of adiposity than the light White Leghorn birds. Removal of the olfactory bulbs and destruction of the septal area resulted in increased thyroid activity, with secondary hyperphagia without obesity. In a short-term study, administration of sodium pentobarbital to the BMH area resulted in increased feeding. Conversely, glucose administration to the same area suppressed feeding in satiated but not in food-deprived chickens.

Hypothalamic obesity: comparison of radio-frequency and electrolytic lesions in weanling rats

Female rats were subjected to radio-frequency or anodal electrolytic lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) when 28 days old. Blood samples for determination of basal plasma insulin and glucose levels were taken on postoperative day 30 (Experiment 1) and on day 10 (Experiment 2). Body weight and daily food intake of rats with either type of lesion did not differ from unoperated animals during the first 10 days, but rats with electrolytic lesions, unlike radio-frequency lesioned animals, displayed excess food intake and weight gain starting in the third postoperative week. Both types of lesions produced stunted linear growth and a higher than normal Lee Obesity Index. Only the rats with electrolytic VMH lesions were significantly hyperinsulinemic on postoperative day 30, with a mean plasma insulin level that was at least double that observed in unoperated or radio-frequency lesioned animals. On day 10, however, the animals with electrolytic lesions had markedly lower plasma insulin and glucose levels compared to the other two groups, which did not differ from one another. There was no apparent difference in the size of the lesions produced by the two techniques, and it is therefore concluded that some of the endocrine dysfunctions resulting from electrolytic VMH lesions are due to metallic ion deposits (stimulating adjacent tissue) rather than to tissue ablation.

Differential effect of common snack foods on caloric intake, growth and obesity in weanling male and female rats with hypothalamic obesity

In order to see whether weanling normophagic rats with hypothalamic obesity (VMNL rats) become hyperphagic and more obese than when fed lab chow, and to see in addition whether there is a possible sex difference in whatever response is found, male and female VMNL rats were fed lab chow for 14 days after lesion production and then, for the following 42 days, they received Hostess HoHos, potato chips, marshmallows and french fries in addition to lab chow. At termination, body weights were similar among the groups, but VMNL rats were fatter and shorter than controls. Also, female VMNL rats were fatter and shorter than male VMNL rats and layed down more fat per unit of food energy. Total caloric intake was greater in controls than in VMNL rats and in males than in females. However, the females showed a decrease in intake and the males an increase over time. Males ate more lab chow and french fries than females. Lab chow was the only food that VMNL rats ate more of than controls. The VMNL rats ate less french fries, HoHos and potato chips than controls, but similar amounts of marshmallows. There was no sex difference in macronutrient intake and per cent macronutrient intake. Moreover, controls ate as much carbohydrate and less per cent carbohydrate than VMNL rats, more fat than VMNL rats, but normal per cent fat and normal protein and per cent protein. Sex X lesion interactions indicated that female VMNL rats ate more per cent carbohydrate than female controls and male VMNL rats, ate more protein than male controls. The greater degree of obesity in the females despite the lower caloric intake may be due to enhanced food energy utilization. The data also show that weanling VMNL rats do not exhibit the great preference for palatable diets that have been reported for mature rats with ventromedial hypothalamic area lesions and that the only sex difference in intake is with french fries, which have neither the highest fat nor the highest carbohydrate content of the foods tested.

Components of hypothalamic obesity: bipiperidyl-mustard lesions add hyperphagia to monosodium glutamate-induced hyperinsulinemia

Rats with bilateral electrolytic lesions in the general region of the ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) nucleus develop hyperinsulinemia, excessive food intake and obesity. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) destroys neurons of the arcuate hypothalamic (AH) nucleus and produces hyperinsulinemic but hypophagic obesity. Bipiperidyl mustard (BPM) primarily destroys VMH neurons, but has produced only a slight obesity even when rats were maintained on high-fat diets. In the present study, rats treated with MSG (AH lesion) were hyperinsulinemic, moderately obese and hypophagic; BPM rats (primarily VMH lesion) were not different from controls when fed standard chow diets. However, MSG/BPM rats (AH + VMH lesion) were hyperinsulinemic, massively obese and hyperphagic. Thus, two components of the electrolytic lesion syndrome previously attributed to VMH damage (hyperinsulinemia and obesity) were reproduced simply by MSG treatment alone. The third component (hyperphagia) occurred only when both AH and VMH were lesioned, suggesting that neurons in both nuclei may perform a satiety function and may be able to substitute for one another in this respect. Since MSG treatment is required for all components of both obesity syndromes described here, this underscores the importance of MSG-sensitive neurons in mechanisms of obesity. The combined treatment approach also represents the first rat model of hyperinsulinemic, hyperphagic obesity that can be entirely produced by systemic administration of neurotoxins.

Hypothalamic obesity, brown adipose tissue, and sympathoadrenal activity in rats

Obesity-producing, hypothalamic knife cuts and ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesions in ad libitum-fed adult rats increased intake of a high-fat diet (123 and 130%) and energy retention (880 and 1,099%) during the 4-wk period postsurgery; even when pair fed to control rats, energy retention of the knife-cut and lesioned rats was still elevated (105 and 155%). Thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue (BAT), estimated from guanosine diphosphate (GDP) binding to BAT mitochondria, was unchanged in hyperphagic knife-cut and VMH-lesioned rats and was reduced approximately 50% when these rats were pair fed to controls. Urinary excretion of norepinephrine (NE) was approximately twofold higher in ad libitum-fed, knife-cut, and lesioned rats than in control rats; restriction of energy intake decreased NE excretion to control values. Rates of NE turnover in heart paralleled urinary NE excretion, whereas NE turnover in BAT was generally not increased in the hyperphagic rats. Urinary epinephrine excretion, an index of adrenal medullary activity, was depressed in all knife-cut and VMH-lesioned rats. Hyperphagia coupled with a lack of increased heat production in BAT causes gross obesity in ad libitum-fed, knife-cut, and VMH-lesioned rats, whereas obesity in pair-fed rats develops in part at least as a result of reduced heat production by BAT.

Influence of restricted food intake on brown adipose tissue function in genetically obese mice (genotype, ob/ob)

Measurements were made of cytochrome c oxidase activity and the GDP-binding capacity of mitochondria in brown adipose tissue of genetically obese mice and wild-type siblings, to estimate the thermogenic capacity of the tissue. The binding capacity was decreased in ad libitum fed obese animals compared with wild-type animals. Limited feeding of obese animals to restrict their body weight caused a large increase in the binding capacity of the tissue, which was greater than that in wild-type animals fed either ad limitum or on a limited diet. The decreased binding capacity of brown adipose tissue mitochondria in obese mice appears to be a consequence of ad libitum feeding and therefore not a cause of the obesity. Limit feeding of obese animals also corrected their characteristic hypothermia at low ambient temperature. The large increase in the thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue in obese animals, induced by limited feeding, may account for the vital improvement of their thermoregulation. However, close similarities were found between obesity hypothermia and hypothermia induced in wild-type animals by restraint. It is suggested that changes in posture caused by obesity, resulting in increased loss of body heat, may be important in the development of obesity hypothermia. Obese animals fed less than wild-type grained more weight than wild-type animals, indicating that the high thermogenic capacity of their brown adipose tissue did not function to regulate their calorie intake.

Alterations in insulin and glucagon secretion by monosodium glutamate lesions of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus

This study was performed to determine the effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) induced lesions of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) on glucose tolerance and insulin and glucagon secretion in male golden hamsters. Eight day old hamsters were given a single s.c. injection of 5.8 mg/g BW MSG or hypertonic saline (controls). Studies were initiated when the hamsters were 3 months of age. At this age there were no body weight differences. Glucose (180 mg/100 g BW) was administered via stomach tube to 18 control and 18 MSG-treated hamsters. Animals were anesthetized with ether and a single blood sample from the portal vein was taken either before or at 30 or 60 min after glucose administration (n = 6/group). Glucose concentrations were similar in both groups at all time periods. Insulin concentrations in the MSG group were significantly (P less than 0.05) elevated in MSG-treated hamsters compared to controls at the 60 min time point. Glucose suppressed glucagon (P less than 0.05) in control but not in MSG-treated hamsters. The MSG group had significantly more glucagon (P less than 0.05) in portal vein blood at 30 min after glucose administration than did the control hamsters. Molar insulin/glucagon ratios did not differ between the 2 groups which likely accounts for the lack of differences in blood glucose levels. These results suggest a role for the ARC in regulating pancreatic function.

Inverse relationship between brown fat thermogenesis and meal size: the thermostatic control of food intake revisited

This study examines a new hypothesis whereby heat production from brown fat in response to eating may serve as a feedback signal for satiety. To test this hypothesis, in vitro respiration rate of brown adipose tissue (BAT) was determined in relation to the voluntary caloric intake of the preceding test meal. This relationship was examined as a function of meal composition and of obesity. It was found that in rats fed a high fat diet, as well as in two types of obese rats (VMH and Zucker), respiration rate per 100 mg tissue was significantly reduced, and energy intake of the preceding test meal increased compared to rats receiving a low fat diet or to respective lean rats. These data lend support to a brown fat mediated thermostatic hypothesis for the control of food intake.

The role of vagally-medicated hyperinsulinemia in hypothalamic obesity

Evidence that the obesity syndrome which follows ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesions is at least partially the result of a primary metabolic dysfunction is reviewed, as are proposals that the altered metabolism is due to enhanced vagally-mediated insulin release. This hypothesis was based largely on experiments demonstrating the complete reversal of hypothalamic obesity by subdiaphragmatic vagotomy, but subsequent studies have revealed that hypothalamic obesity is not always prevented by prior vagal transections. Interpretation of these discrepant results has been made difficult because of the frequent use of gastric secretion, behavioral, or other indirect tests for completeness of vagotomy. A review of more recent studies which have employed either direct assessment of vagotomy effects on insulin levels, pharmacological blockade of vagal efferent activity, or selective vagotomies indicates that vagally-mediated hyperinsulinemia can account for no more than 40% of the weight gain observed in animals with VMH lesions fed ad libitum, and may not be involved in the obesity that results from some parasagittal VMH knife cuts. It is concluded that vagally-mediated hyperinsulinemia does make a substantial, although not exclusive, contribution to the increased carcass lipid content observed in VMH animals that are food-restricted or pair-fed with control animals.

Reduced sympathetic nervous system activity in rats with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions

To determine if alterations in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity occur in rats with ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesions, norepinephrine (NE) turnover rates were examined in various tissues of lesioned and control, weanling rats. VMH-lesioned rats fed a high-carbohydrate diet ad libitum for 4 weeks following surgery were not hyperphagic, but they gained 50% more body energy than control rats. VMH lesions extended the half-life of 3H-NE in interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) by 42%, in abdominal white adipose tissue (WAT) by 201%, in heart by 61% and in pancreas by 85%, and reduced total NE turnover (ng/organ/hr) in BAT (38%), WAT (57%), heart (30%) and pancreas (53%). Reduced SNS activity in BAT is consistent with the decreased energy expenditure (heat production) and increased energy efficiency observed in VMH-lesioned rats. In WAT, decreased SNS activity coupled with hyperinsulinemia would facilitate energy storage as fat by reducing lipid mobilization. In the pancreas, reduced SNS activity would contribute to hyperinsulinemia. These results support the hypothesis that VMH lesions decrease SNS activity in several organs. This change in autonomic tone is very likely a major factor in the development of obesity in VMH-lesioned animals.

Enhanced amphetamine anorexia, but not drinking suppression in obese Zucker rats

The effects of d-amphetamine on ad libitum consummatory behavior of genetically obese Zucker rats and their lean littermates were examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1 food intake was measured every two hours for six hours following intraperitoneal injections of 0.0, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/kg of d-amphetamine sulfate. Both lean and obese animals significantly suppressed food intake for the first two hours after injection of 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg doses. Lean animals displayed no suppression of food intake at four or six hours after injection. In contrast to lean animals, obese rats continued to show a suppression of feeding at four hours after injection of 1.0 mg/kg. Total six-hour food intake of obese animals was significantly suppressed from baseline after 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg of amphetamine, but only after the 1.0 mg/kg injection with lean animals. Experiment 2 examined the effects of these same doses on both food and water intake of different groups of obese and lean Zucker rats. The enhanced anorexia with the 1.0 mg/kg injection of amphetamine was replicated. Water intake, however, was suppressed only during the first two hours after both the 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg injection in obese and lean rats. Results of the present experiments are discussed in light of previous studies of the effects of amphetamine on hypothalamically obese animals.

Effects of ventromedial hypothalamic lesions on adipose tissue of weanling male rats

In weanling male rats, destruction of the ventromedial hypothalamus causes increased carcass lipid deposition and decreased linear growth without changes in food intake or blood glucose levels. These changes are not dependent on altered pituitary function. Lipogenesis and glucose utilization are increased in vivo and in vitro, while gluconeogenesis is accelerated in vivo. The enhanced lipogenesis occurs before increased gluconeogenesis.

Juvenile-onset obesity and deficits in caloric regulation in MSG-treated rats

Caloric regulation and the development of obesity were examined in rats which had received parenteral injections of monosodium glutamate (MSG) as neonates. Rats were injected with either 2 mg/g or 4 mg/g MSG on alternate days for the first 20 days of life. Lee Indices of obesity were calculated at 22, 70, and 130 days of age. Animals in the 4 mg/g group were significantly more obese than controls at all three ages. However, both food intake and body weight of this group were significantly lower than those of controls. In adulthood, the ability to regulate caloric intake was tested by allowing animals access to diets of varying caloric densities. While control animals maintained relatively constant caloric intakes across dietary conditions, MSG-treated animals demonstrated an inability to respond to caloric challenges. Treated animals decreased caloric intake on a diluted diet and consumed more calories than controls when presented with a calorically dense diet. This inability to regulate caloric intake is compared with regulatory deficits observed in animals sustaining lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus. The value of an animal model of juvenile-onset obesity is also discussed.

Regional variations in glia and neuropil within the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus

The normal fine structure of glia and neuropil in the various regional subdivisions of the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus in the adult male albino rat is described in this report. Although most HVM astrocytes throughout the nucleus appear ordinary in cytology, certain astrocytes found in the posterior ventrolateral subdivision of the nucleus appear somewhat reactive, in that they contain numerous thick fascicles of gliofibrils and pleomorphic dense bodies. The processes of these reactive astrocytes elaborate multiple, concentric lamellae which encapsulate small, round, pyknotic masses (probably degenerate axonal elements). These degenerate profiles, which are greatly outnumbered by normal HVM boutons, may represent synaptic contacts that deteriorate spontaneously in the normal adult HVM. Other signs of spontaneous degeneration occurring within this neuropil include the occasional presence of large masses of necrotic debris which appear engulfed by microglia. These findings suggest the presence in the normal adult HVM neuropil of a low-grade degenerative process with attendant gliosis, which is topographically centered about the posterior ventrolateral region of the nucleus. Regions of neuropil containing degenerate boutons also contain altered neuronal processes, some of which may be growth cones. The topographic proximity of the degenerating boutons to possible signs of axonal or dendritic regeneration indicates that certain synaptic circuits in the normal adult HVM may be plastic, and subject to spontaneous remodelling.

Effects of monosodium glutamate-induced obesity in mice on carbohydrate metabolism in insulin secretion

1. The syndrome of obesity induced by neonatal injection of monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been further studied in mice. In confirmation of previous studies stunting and decreased pituitary and gonadal weights were observed. 2. After weaning food intake was consistently less in MSG-treated than control mice. Body lipid stores were significantly elevated in MSG-treated mice by 2 weeks of age and increased progressively up to 4 months. 3. Plasma glucose was comparable between MSG-treated and control mice in the fed state whereas after an overnight fast MSG-treated mice exhibited relative hypoglycaemia. 4. Obese MSG-treated mice did not exhibit resistance to exogenous insulin and disposed of an intravenous glucose load more rapidly than control mice. 5. Hyperinsulinaemia was present inconsistently in both fed and fasted mice and in response to administered glucose. 6. Neonatal administration of MSG provides a useful additional model for studying the role of the hypothalamus in obesity.

Nutrition and growth

Longitudinal growth data on children who developed obesity during childhood reveal a distinct tendency for height gain to accelerate coincident with or after the onset of excessive weight gain. The magnitude of the relative height increment is related to the degree of overweight. Overnutrition accelerates growth, just as undernutrition retards it.

Effects of monosodium glutamate administration in the neonatal period on the diabetic syndrome in KK mice

Administration of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to KK mice during the neonatal period resulted in a syndrome of obesity, stunting and hypogonadism. In some animals the genetic predisposition to diabetes was unmasked with the development of marked hyperglycaemia and or hyperinsulinaemia. Food intake was not increased compared to controls. The elevated plasma glucose and insulin in fed MSG treated mice fell rapidly with food deprivation. Glucose disposal was comparable in MSG treated and control mice after IP glucose, but after oral glucose MSG treated mice showed impaired glucose tolerance. Insulin secretion was defective in MSG treated mice after IP but not after oral glucose.

The weanling rat ventromedial syndrome: Males get just as fat as females

Weanling female and male Holtzman rats received bilateral electroytic lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) at the age of 27 and 26 days, respectively. Sham-operated rats served as controls. The animals were maintained on a synthetic diet (4.2 Cal/g) and tap water ad lib, and body weight, Lee (obesity) Index, tail length and food and water intake were recorded weekly for 6 weeks. The only parameters in which a significant sex difference could be demonstrated were body weight gains and water intake which were greater in the male VMN rats. Female and male VMN rats also utilized food energy for fat deposition, body weight and body length change to the same extent. The data also show that in growing animals, body weight is a poor criterion for the accurate assessment of obesity status and true growth.

Origin of endocrine-metabolic changes in the weanling rat ventromedial syndrome

Destruction of the ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei (VMN) in the weanling rat without injury to the median eminence results in a series of somatic, endocrine, and metabolic changes that are characterized by normal food and water intake but decreased linear growth, normal body weight but increased carcass fat and reduced carcass protein, lean body mass, and water. The endocrine alterations comprise hyperinsulinemia in the face of normoglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia and reduced growth hormone levels. The metabolic changes include greater oxidation of glucose and incorporation into lipid and reduced palmitate oxidation but increased incorporation into lipid. Weanling rats with VMN lesions are normophagic in absolute terms, relative to body weight and per metabolic unit, but their nocturnal feeding and weight gain cycles are disrupted and their locomotor activity is reduced. The VMN are involved in the long-term control of feeding - as in the mature rat - as shown by intragastric preloading studies and dietary density manipulation, glucose preference tests and intraperitoneal injections with glucose. Hyperinsulinemia and hypertriglyceridemia are present four days after the VMN operation in the presence of subnormal food intake and plasma glucose levels. Manipulations of the fat content of the diet revealed that the hyperlipidemia is of both endogenous and exogenous origin and that lipoprotein lipase is increased; a 48-hour fast reduced the hyperlipidemia to control levels, however. This suggests that weanling VMN rat tissue may have an impaired ability to take up circulating lipid. An increased incorporation of glycerol into lipid may be due to induction of glycerokinase by hyperinsulinemia. Adipose tissue of weanling VMN rats showed glycerokinase by hyperinsulinemia. Adipose tissue of weanling VMN rats showed neither depressed lipolysis nor diminished lipolytic activity per milligram of tissue protein. Glucose oxidation and incorporation into adipose tissue is increased in several tissues in vitro and there is enhanced glucose disappearance from plasma and incorporation into tissue lipids in vivo. These changes develop within a short time after lesion production and persist at least partially up to six months: glucose utilization in liver increases already four hours after the operation whereas it takes 72 hours to commence in adipose tissue. Insulin resistance is not apparent either in vivo or in vitro. The decreased growth hormone levels are not critical to the metabolic changes, nor is the hyperinsulinemia totally necessary. The metabolic changes also appear on several different types of diet and persist with fasting. The latter does not reduce insulin sensitivity of VMN rat tissues, wheras it does so in normal rats. Mature rats developed the same metabolic changes even in the absence of hyperphagia. The metabolic alterations can be blocked by pharmacologic doses of glucocorticoids, but are enhanced by the administration of estrogen...

A critical evaluation of body weight loss following lateral hypothalamic lesions

The possibility that factors in addition to motivational or psychomotor deficits contribute to body weight losses following lateral hypothalamic (LH) lesions was assessed in 2 experiments. Rats with LH lesions failed to gain weight when compared to sham-operated controls, when equal quantities of nutrients were given by intragastric feeding. They also lost weight more rapidly than controls under total starvation conditions regardless of whether food was present or absent in the G1 tract prior to surgery. These results could not be explained on the basis of differences in urine or fecal output or activity levels. An increase in core temperature was found in LH lesioned rats immediately following surgery and throughout the experimental period. These results suggest that lateral hypothalamic lesions induce a metabolic impairment.

Six-month follow-up in weanling rats with ventromedial and dorsomedial hypothalamic lesions: somatic, endocrine, and metabolic changes

Thus far both the weanling rat ventromedial and dorsomedial syndrome have been investigated in only two and three-week studies. The present data are derived from a six-month study. Food intake and body weight and length changes were recorded weekly or bi-weekly and endocrine and metabolic parameters were assessed at sacrifice. Rats that had received ventromedial hypothalamic lesions shortly after weaning showed all the changes noted in previous short-term studies, i.e. normal body weight gains and food intake but increased carcass fat content. In addition, they manifested a slight hyperglycemia, normal free fatty acid levels and slowingdown of lipogenesis. Rats that had received dorsomedial lesions shortly after weaning also showed changes previously reported in short-term experiments. These include reduced ponderal and linear growth and food intake, but normal carcass composition and growth hormone levels. In addition, they showed a slight improvement of hypophagia with time, and at sacrifice hypoglycemia and low free fatty acid levels. Incorporation of glucose into fat pad glycogen and CO2 was decreased. In diaphragm, glucose incorporation was increased in both total lipid and fatty acids. The data demonstrate that both hypothalamic syndromes change with time, but not necessarily in a progressive manner. They also show that destruction of two so closely appositioned hypothalamic structures brings about entirely different and, in some parameters, opposite changes.

Glucose preference and caloric regulation in weanling rats with ventromedial and dorsomedial hypothalamic lesions

Weanling male rats received electrolytic lesions in the ventromedial (VMN) and dorsomedial (MDN) hypothalamic nuclei, respectively. A third group served as sham-operated controls (CON). After the two hypothalamic syndromes had been well established, the animals were subjected to (1) a glucose preference test assessing the choice between a 10% w/v and a 35% w/v d-glucose solution, and (2) a test examining the anorexigenic effect of intraperitoneally injected glucose. Weanling rats with VMN lesions, like their mature counterparts, consistently preferred the stronger over the weaker glucose solution throughout the experiment (16 days). Weanling DMN rats, on the other hand, showed a bimodal response, initially like that of the CON rat, toward the end of the experiment, like that of the VMN rats. The weanling CON animals behaved differently from their mature counterparts, inasmuch as their preference for the dilute solution became evident only toward the latter part of the test. An analysis of the calorie intake shows that calories from glucose are similar in all three groups of rats, that the pattern and magnitude of caloric intake in DMN and CON rats are almost identical, and that the total caloric intake (from chow plus glucose) is reduced in the DMN rats because the calorie component from chow is profoundly reduced. In response to intraperitoneally injected glucose, VMN rats show a longer depression of food intake than has been reported for mature VMN rats. The CON and DMN rats recovered quicker and reached preinjection levels of food intake sooner than the VMN rats. The data indicate that in the weanling VMN rat, as in its mature counterpart, the VMN are involved in long-term feeding behavior and do respond to the metabolic signal arising from administered glucose. Nevertheless, the principle factor in their preference seems to be taste rather than solely a metabolic signal. The data show that the DMN are less involved in this sensing and integrating mechanism. In essence, the DMN rat functions quite normally, but its control system is set at a subnormal level.

Food intake of weanling rats with lesions in the ventromedial and dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei in response to intragastric loading and caloric density manipulation

Male rats received bilateral electrolytic lesions shortly after weaning in the ventromedial (VMN) and dorsomedial (DMN) hypothalamic nuclei, respectively. A third group of rats served as sham-operated controls. The animals were subjected to intragastric preloading with 33% d-glucose and egg-white solutions and a 33% corn-oil suspension, and ad libitum feeding was assessed hourly for the first 7 hr after preloading. The pattern of food-intake depression was similar in all groups but the quantitative greatest depression was found in the DMN rats. The response of these three groups of animals to a diet diluted with 20% alpha cell, a nonnutritive bulker, showed an initial failure to meter calories by both VMN and DMN rats which, however, was compensated for during the remainder of the 24-hr test period. In response to a 50% glucose-chow mixture, both VMN and DMN rats, as well as the controls, showed the same pattern and behaved like mature dynamic hyperphagic rats inasmuch as they did not eat more of this mix than of the standard diet. After a 48-hr fast, both VMN and DMN rats showed refeeding hypophagia rather than hyperphagia. The data suggest that Panksepp's contention that the VMN in the mature rat is involved in long-term satiety regulation may be extended to the weanling rat with VMN destruction. Thus, this controlling role appears established early in ontogeny.