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Decrease in sweet taste in rats after gastric bypass surgery

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Abstract

Background

The literature contains evidence that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery has an effect in humans on taste and preference for carbohydrate-rich foods. This study tested the hypothesis that RYGB affects sweet taste behavior using a rat model.

Methods

Male Sprague–Dawley rats underwent either RYGB or sham surgery. Then 4 weeks after surgery, the rats were given taste-salient, brief-access lick tests with a series of sucrose concentrations.

Results

The RYGB rats, but not the sham rats, lost weight over the 5-week postoperative period. The RYGB rats showed a significant decrease in mean licks for the highest concentration of sucrose (0.25–1.0 mol/l) but not for the low concentrations of sucrose or water.

Conclusions

The findings showed that RYGB surgery affected sweet taste behavior in rats, with postsurgical rats having lower sensitivity or avidity for sucrose than sham-treated control rats. This finding is similar to human reports that sweet taste and preferences for high-caloric foods are altered after bypass surgery.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by a grant from the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons to David S. Tichansky and by NIH grant DC000353 to John D. Boughter.

Disclosures

David S. Tichansky, A. Rebecca Glatt, Atul K. Madan, Jason Harper, Kenichi Tokita, and John D. Boughter have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, 1100 Walnut Street, 5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    David S. Tichansky

  2. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    A. Rebecca Glatt, Kenichi Tokita & John D. Boughter

  3. Beverly Hills Surgery Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Atul K. Madan

  4. Paris Surgical Specialists, Paris, TN, USA

    Jason Harper

Authors
  1. David S. Tichansky
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  2. A. Rebecca Glatt
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  3. Atul K. Madan
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  4. Jason Harper
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  5. Kenichi Tokita
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  6. John D. Boughter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David S. Tichansky.

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Tichansky, D.S., Rebecca Glatt, A., Madan, A.K. et al. Decrease in sweet taste in rats after gastric bypass surgery. Surg Endosc 25, 1176–1181 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-010-1335-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-010-1335-0

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