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Influence of age and hepatic branch vagotomy on the night/day distribution of food intake in rats

Einfluß des Alters und der hepatischen Vagotomie auf die Nacht/Tag-Verteilung der Futteraufnahme bei der Ratte

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Summary

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of age and hepatic branch vagotomy on the night/day distribution of food intake in male rats. Food intake of young (age: 2 months) and aged (age: 13.5 months) hepatic branch vagotomized (HBV) and sham-vagotomized (SV) rats was measured at intervals of 6 h during the 12 h dark and the 12 h light phase.

The results show that in rats the night/day ratio of food intake decreases with age and is not affected by hepatic branch vagotomy. However, the time-course of spontaneous diurnal food intake was influenced by hepatic branch vagotomy. The change in the night/day distribution of food intake might be due to age-related changes in the nucleus suprachiasmaticus of the hypothalamus.

Zusammenfassung

Ziel der Untersuchung war es, den Einfluß des Alters und der hepatischen Vagotomie auf die Nacht/Tag-Verteilung der Futteraufnahme bei der Ratte zu untersuchen. Es wurde die Futteraufnahme von jungen (Alter: 2 Monate) und alten (Alter: 13.5 Monate) Ratten, deren hepatischer Vagusast durchtrennt worden war oder die scheinvagotomiert worden waren, alle 6 Stunden in der jeweils 12 h dauernden Dunkel- bzw. Hellphase gemessen.

Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß das Nacht/Tag-Verhältnis der Futteraufnahme mit dem Alter abnimmt und daß die hepatische Vagotomie die Nacht/Tag-Verteilung der Futteraufnahme nicht beeinflußt. Dagegen wurde der Verlauf der spontanen Futteraufnahme in der Hellphase durch den hepatischen Vagusast beeinflußt. Die altersabhängigen Veränderungen der Nacht/Tag-Verteilung der Futteraufnahme könnten auf altersbedingten Veränderungen im Nucleus suprachiasmaticus im Hypothalamus zurückzuführen sein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Veterinary Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    E. Del Prete & E. Scharrer

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  1. E. Del Prete
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  2. E. Scharrer
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Del Prete, E., Scharrer, E. Influence of age and hepatic branch vagotomy on the night/day distribution of food intake in rats. Z Ernährungswiss 32, 316–320 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01611170

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01611170

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