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Abstract
The present study addressed the possible role of a conditioned taste aversion in the
anorectic effect of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the rat. Pairing an intraperitoneal
(IP) injection of LPS (100 micrograms/kg b.wt.) with the subsequent presentation of
a familiar diet (FD) or of a novel-tasting saccharin diet (SD) for several hours did
not affect FD or SD intake when the same diet was offered several days later after
12 h of food deprivation. However, food intake during the second presentation of SD
was reduced when food was not withheld prior to the test. In a similarly designed
experiment, the antipyretic and antiinflammatory drug indomethacin (5 mg/kg b.wt.,
IP) attenuated the anorectic effect of LPS during the initial pairing, but did not
affect the inhibition of SD intake in LPS-pretreated rats during the second feeding
test. The antiemetic trimethobenzamide (5 mg/kg b.wt., IP) failed to influence the
anorectic effect of LPS. Lesion of the area postrema (AP) and the adjacent nucleus
of the solitary tract (NST) was found to enhance the anorectic effect of LPS, but
the development of tolerance to this effect remained unchanged in AP/NST-lesioned
animals. In spite of the ability of LPS to induce a taste aversion that inhibits feeding
under certain conditions (novel-tasting diet, no food deprivation prior to the feeding
test), the findings indicate that a learned taste aversion is not the only contributor
to the anorectic effect of LPS.