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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Operation in Rats
Published on: June 11, 2012
Decrease in sweet taste in rats after gastric bypass surgery
David S Tichansky1, A Rebecca Glatt, Atul K Madan
1Department of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, 1100 Walnut Street, 5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. David.Tichansky@jefferson.edu
Background:
The literature contains evidence that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery has an effect in humans on taste and preference for carbohydrate-rich foods. This study tested the hypothesis that RYGB affects sweet taste behavior using a rat model.
Methods:
Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent either RYGB or sham surgery. Then 4 weeks after surgery, the rats were given taste-salient, brief-access lick tests with a series of sucrose concentrations.
Results:
The RYGB rats, but not the sham rats, lost weight over the 5-week postoperative period. The RYGB rats showed a significant decrease in mean licks for the highest concentration of sucrose (0.25-1.0 mol/l) but not for the low concentrations of sucrose or water.
Conclusions:
The findings showed that RYGB surgery affected sweet taste behavior in rats, with postsurgical rats having lower sensitivity or avidity for sucrose than sham-treated control rats. This finding is similar to human reports that sweet taste and preferences for high-caloric foods are altered after bypass surgery.
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