Intraduodenal infusions of fats elicit satiety in sham-feeding rats.

The satiating effect of duodenally administered fats was investigated with intraduodenal infusions of Intralipid in sham-feeding rats. Intralipid rapidly inhibited sham feeding and elicited the behavioral sequence of satiety. The satiating potency of Intralipid infusions in concentrations of 0.125-1 kcal/ml was a function of the concentration infused. The time course for Intralipid-induced satiety showed that fats inhibited feeding and led to the behavioral sequence of satiety within 15 min after the infusions began. This time course is evidence for a preabsorptive site of action to the small intestine. To test this hypothesis we added the local anesthetic tetracaine to Intralipid infusions. Tetracaine significantly reduced the satiating potency of Intralipid infusion. This result supports the hypothesis of a preabsorptive site of action. We also tested the specificity of intraduodenal Intralipid for feeding by administering Intralipid to rats that were sham drinking. The effect of Intralipid was relatively specific because the threshold concentration of Intralipid necessary to inhibit sham drinking was higher than the threshold for sham feeding. In addition, at superthreshold concentrations, Intralipid inhibited sham drinking less than sham feeding and elicited different behaviors than were observed during sham feeding.