Inhibition of fatty acid oxidation and glucose metabolism does not affect food intake or hunger motivation in syrian hamsters

Abstract

We examined the interaction of the metabolic fuels, glucose and free fatty acids (FFA), in the control of food intake in Syrian hamsters. Hamsters were treated with a 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) which inhibits glucose utilization, and methyl palmoxirate (MP), which inhibits fatty acid oxidation. The 2DG and MP, alone or in combination did not enhance food intake in hamsters fed a standard rodent chow diet. Determination of the circulating glucose, FFAs, and ketones confirmed that the drugs were having the intended metabolic effects. The 2DG caused marked hyperglycemia and decreased ketones consistent with an inhibition of glycolysis, and the MP caused increased FFAs and decreased ketones indicating inhibition of fatty acid oxidation. A third experiment examined the hamsters' willingness to ingest a diet made highly unpalatable with NaCl, another measure of hunger motivation. Although food-deprived hamsters ingested more of a salt-adulterated diet than did control animals, hamsters treated with MP and 2DG did not. These experiments provide further evidence that the control of food intake in Syrian hamsters is appreciably different than that of laboratory rats.