Central infusion of glp-1, but not leptin, produces conditioned taste aversions in rats. Thiele, Todd E., Gertjan Van Dijk, L. Arthur Campfield, Francoise J. Smith, Paul Burn, Stephen C. Woods, Ilene L. Bernstein, and Randy J. Seeley. Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience, and Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 and Department of Metabolic Diseases, Hoffmann-La Roche4, Nutley, NJ 07110
APStracts 3:0391R, 1996.
Leptin (OB Protein) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (7-36) amide (GLP-1) are peptides recently proposed to be involved in the regulation of food intake. Although the ability of exogenous leptin and GLP-1 to modulate consummatory behavior is consistent with the suggestion that these peptides are endogenous regulatory agents, central administration of these peptides may have aversive side effects which could explain the anorexia. In the present experiment, exposure to a saccharine taste was immediately followed by central administration of leptin or GLP-1 to determine if these drugs could produce a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in rats. At doses equated for producing comparable reductions in short-term food intake, GLP-1, but not leptin, generated a robust CTA. Although leptin caused no aversion, this peptide was the only drug to cause relatively long -term reductions in food consumption (16-h) and body weight (24-h). Hence, the results indicate that central GLP-1 produces aversive side effects, and it is argued that these nonspecific effects may explain the anorectic actions of GLP-1.

Received 4 September 1996; accepted in final form 30 October
1996.
APS Manuscript Number R530-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Regulatory Integrative
Comp. Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 31 December 1996