Food intake of lean and obese Zucker rats following ventricular infusions of adrenergic agonists.

The effect on food intake of adrenergic agonists administered into the third cerebral ventricle was studied in Zucker fatty and lean rats. The alpha 2 agonist, clonidine, produced a larger dose-related increase in food intake in lean rats than in the fatty rats. Dose-response curves show similar sensitivity, but decreased responsiveness in the lean animal. The beta 2 adrenergic agonist, salbutamol, produced similar food effect in obese and lean rats reducing food intake in the lean rats at the highest dose (300 nmol), and in the fatty rats at the two highest doses. The effects were small in both groups. The beta 3 agonist, BRL 37344, ([4-(2-((2-hydroxy-2-(3-chlorophenyl)ethyl)amino)-propyl)-phenoxy acetate]) produced a larger dose-related decrease in food intake in the fatty rat than in the lean rats. Dose-response curves showed that sensitivity of beta-receptors was similar, but the lean animals were less responsive. The beta-adrenergic blocking drug propranolol blocked the anorectic effect of BRL 37344 in the fatty rat. These studies suggest that in the fatty rat, the alpha 2 receptor system is tonically more active and the beta 3 receptor system tonically less active, a relationship that would explain the hyperphagia and development of obesity in these animals.