Protein metabolism in rats with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions: dietary effects on nitrogen retention

The protein metabolism of rats bearing bilateral lesions in the ventromedial area of hypothalamus (VMH) was studied in nitrogen balance experiments employing high protein and high fat diets. The catabolic effect of VMH destruction was to a great extent counterbalanced by increased protein intake. This indicates that increased amino acid catabolism, rather than impaired mechanisms for protein synthesis, is responsible for the poor nitrogen retention of VMH-lesioned rat fed normal amounts of protein. A trend of increasing nitrogen excretion with increasing dietary fat was found when the caloric intake of VMH-lesioned animals was elevated by substitution of dietary carbohydrates with fat. Persistent liponeogenesis in spite of the high fat intake, is suggested as a possible explanation for this observation.