Summary
Electrolytic bilateral lesions of the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus of both female and male mature rats resulted in hypophagia, hypodipsia and decreased spontaneous running activity. The latter is not associated with increased fat deposition. Resting oxygen consumption was reduced in both sexes, but significantly only in the males. Thyroid weight was normal in both sexes but ovaries and adrenals were lighter in the females and the pituitary was lighter in the male rats with lesions. The data show that the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus is involved in hypothalamic mechanisms controlling food intake, water intake and spontaneous activity not only in the weanling rat as previously demonstrated, but in the mature rat as well.
Zusammenfassung
Bilaterale Koagulationsläsionen in den dorsomedialen hypothalamischen Kernen von geschlechtsreifen Ratten verursachen Hypophagie, Hypodipsie und reduzierte spontane Aktivität. Die letztere ist nicht mit erhöhtem Körperfettansatz verbunden. Der Grundumsatz ist bei beiden Geschlechtern erniedrigt, aber signifikant nur an männlichen lädierten Ratten. Das Schilddrüsengewicht war bei beiden Geschlechtern normal, aber die Ovarien und die Nebennieren waren bei den weiblichen Tieren leichter. Das Hypophysengewicht war nur bei den männlichen Ratten mit Läsionen erniedrigt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die dorsomedialen hypothalamischen Kerne an den Kontrollmechanismen für die Futter und Wasseraufnahme als auch an der spontanen Aktivität beteiligt sind und daß dies nicht nur bei entwöhnten Ratten — wie schon vorher berichtet —, sondern auch bei geschlechtsreifen Tieren der Fall ist.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anand, B. K., S. Dua, andK. Shoenberg: Hypothalamic control of food intake in cats and monkeys. J. Physiol.127, 143–152 (1955).
Arees, E. A., andJ. Mayer: Anatomical connections between medial and lateral regions of the hypothalamus concerned with food intake. Science157, 1574–1575 (1967).
Bernardis, L. L., B. M. Box, andJ. A. F. Stevenson: Growth following hypothalamic lesions in the weanling rat. Endocrinology72, 684–692 (1963).
Bernardis, L. L., andF. R. Skelton: Stereotaxic localization of supraoptic, ventromedial and mamillary nuclei in the hypothalamus of weanling to mature rats. Amer. J. Anat.116, 69–74 (1965).
Bernardis, L. L.: Participation of the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus in the “feeding center” and water intake circuitry of the weanling rat. J. Neuro-Visc. Relat.31, 387–398 (1970).
Bernardis, L. L., andL. A. Frohman: Effect of hypothalamic lesions at different loci on development of hyperinsulinemia and obesity in the weanling rat. J. Comp. Neurol.141, 107–118 (1971).
Bernardis, L. L., andJ. D. Schnatz: Localization in the ventromedial hypothalamus of an area affecting plasma lipid levels. J. Neuro-Visc. Relat.32, 90–99 (1971).
Bernardis, L. L., andJ. K. Goldman: Effect of hypothalamic lesion localization and size on metabolic alterations in weanling rat adipose tissue. J. Neuro-Visc. Relat.32, 253–269 (1972).
Brobeck, J. R.: Food intake as a mechanism of temperature regulation. Yale J. Biol. Med.20, 545–552 (1948).
Brobeck, J. R.: Neural regulation of food intake. N.Y. Acad. Sci.63, 44–55 (1955/56).
Brooks, C. M.: The relative importance of changes in activity in the development of experimentally produced obesity in the rat. Amer. J. Physiol.147, 708–716 (1946).
Campbell, B. A., andF. D. Sheffield: Relation of random activity to food deprivation. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.46, 320–322 (1953).
Folch, J., M. Lees, andG. H. Sloane-Stanley: A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipids from animal tissues. J. Biol. Chem.226, 497–509 (1957).
Frohman, L. A., andL. L. Bernardis: Growth hormone and insulin levels in weanling rats with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions. Endocrinology82, 1125–1132 (1968).
Frohman, L. A., L. L. Bernardis, J. D. Schnatz, andL. Burek: Plasma insulin and triglyceride levels after hypothalamic lesions in weanling rats. Amer. J. Physiol.216, 1496–1501 (1969).
Goldman, J. K., J. D. Schnatz, L. L. Bernardis, andL. A. Frohman: Adipose tissue metabolism of weanling rats after destruction of the ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei: effect of hypophysectomy and growth hormone. Metabolism19, 995–1005 (1970).
Hetherington, A. W., andS. W. Ranson: The spontaneous activity and food intake of rats with hypothalamic lesions. Amer. J. Physiol.136, 609–617 (1942).
Kennedy, G. C.: The central nervous regulation of caloric balance. Proc. Nutr. Soc.20, 58–64 (1961).
Kennedy, G. C., andJ. Mitra: Hypothalamic control of energy balance and the reproductive cycle in the rat. J. Physiol.166, 395–407 (1963).
Lowry, O. H., N. J. Rosebrough, A. L. Farr, andR. J. Randall: Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem.193, 265–275 (1951).
Matano, S., A. Sakai, andT. Ban: Dendritic Arborization of the hypothalamus in mouse. Med. J. Osaka Univ.20, 1–6 (1969).
Mayer, J., andE. A. Arees: Ventromedial glucorecepter system. Fed. Proc.27, 1345–1348 (1968).
Millhouse, O. E.: A Golgi Study of the descending medial forebrain bundle. Brain Res.15, 341–363 (1969).
Stevenson, J. A. F.: Effect of hypothalamic lesions on water and energy metabolism in the rat. Rec. Progr. Horm. Res.4, 363–387 (1949).
Stevenson, J. A. F., andR. H. Rixon: Environmental temperature and deprivation of food and water on the spontaneous activity of rats. Yale J. Biol. Med.29, 575–584 (1957).
Szentágothai, J., B. Flerkó, B. Mess, andB. Halász: Hypothalamic control of the anterior pituitary. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado. 1968.
Wald, G., andB. Jackson: Activity and nutritional deprivation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., U.S.A.30, 255–263 (1944).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This investigation was supported by U.S.P.H.S. Grants HD 03331 and AM 14418, N.I.H.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bernardis, L.L. Hypophagia, hypodipsia, and hypoactivity following electrolytic lesions in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei of mature rats of both sexes. J. Neural Transmission 33, 1–10 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01244724
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01244724