Restricted Amounts Of Food Research Articles

Effect of Food Restriction on Systematic Oscillations in “Control Animals” Used in Studies on Biotin-deficient Rats ,

Various “control animals” used in studies on biotin-deficient rats have been evaluated. Biotin-deficient and control rats fed ad libitum, and control animals given restricted amounts of food (10 g) as one, two or four equal meals a day were used. Average food intake of control and deficient animals fed the basal diet ad libitum were 17.1 and 9.5 g, respectively. Control animals given a restricted amount of food (10 g) as one, two or four equal meals a day consumed each allotment in 6 hours, 30 and 15 minutes, respectively. The rate of food ingestion appeared to be higher in animals given multiple meals than in animals given a single meal. Systematic oscillations in body weight, liver weight, the level of hepatic glycogen and spontaneous activity, were observed in control animals given a single meal. Furthermore, these oscillations decreased proportionately in animals given multiple meals. Similar oscillations were also observed in body weights of pair-fed animals. A threefold increase in spontaneous activity was observed in animals given a restricted amount of food as a single meal compared with animals fed ad libitum. This activity increased with progress of the fast. In view of these results it is apparent that “pair-fed,” “pair-weighed” and “trained-fed” control animals are different from biotin-deficient and control animals fed ad libitum.

Effects of different patterns of allocation of a restricted quantity of food upon the growth and development of cockerels

1. The live-weight gains and food consumption of groups of chickens subjected to two different patterns, (A) and (B), of allocation of a restricted quantity of food, were compared with the live-weight gains and food consumption of a control group (C), fed ad lib. throughout the experiment.2. Group B (compensatory growth regime), showed a greater relative growth rate after re-alimentation than group A (mild restriction followed by ad lib. feeding). The growth rate of group B was shown to be significantly greater than that of the control group at equivalent live weights. In addition, it was shown that the increased growth rate, induced by periods of restriction of similar severity and duration, was very similar for birds within the ranges of 200–300 g. live weight and 750–1100 g. live weight.3. The differences, due to treatment, in the growth rate after re-alimentation were in part caused by a concurrent increase in appetite. The severity and duration of the undernutrition immediately prior to re-alimentation would appear to affect appetite during re-alimentation more than the total restriction imposed. Measured in terms of food consumed, the restriction imposed upon groups A and B was the same, but in terms of live weight gain group B was very slightly more retarded than group A.

Islet hypertrophy in obesity of mice bearing ACTH-secreting tumors.

The weight gain in mice bearing ACTH-secreting anterior pituitary tumors is caused by excessive growth of adipose tissue of normal composition. The islets of obese mice show hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and degranulation of beta cells, the. degree of which is closely related to the extent of the obesity. The islet enlargement is caused by increase in size and number of beta cells. In severe adiposity, marked central cavitation of the islet was observed. Islet hypertrophyalso develops, to a lesser degree, in animals maintained on restricted amounts of food. Despite weight loss, these animals are relatively fat. It istheorized that increased insulin secretion induces adipose tissue growth and obesity in these animals.