Estradiol: a rhythmic, inhibitory, indirect control of meal size

The classic analyses of the inhibitory effects of cholecystokinin (CCK) on meal size, conducted by Professor Gerard P. Smith and his colleagues at the Bourne Laboratory, inspired my initial interest in this field. My current research, which investigates the role of estradiol in the control of meal size, continues to be guided by Gerry's thoughtful, scientific approach to the study of ingestive behavior. In 1996, the year I arrived as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bourne Laboratory, Gerry published a new theory of the controls of meal size. In this important paper, Gerry proposed that the controls of meal size can be either direct or indirect. He argued that direct controls of meal size interact with peripheral, preabsorptive receptors that are sensitive to the chemical, mechanical, and colligative properties of ingested food and that indirect controls of meal size function to modulate the activity of direct controls. The purpose of this review is to illustrate how Gerry's theory has guided much of what is known about the mechanism by which estradiol inhibits food intake in female rats. I will provide evidence, primarily from behavioral studies of gonadally intact and ovariectomized rats, that estradiol exerts phasic and tonic inhibitory effects on food intake by acting as a rhythmic, inhibitory, indirect control of meal size.