Effect of cholecystokinin on taste responsiveness in rats

Alterations in taste responsiveness have been suggested to mediate the suppression of feeding that accompanies exogenous administration of cholecystokinin (CCK). We tested this possibility in electrophysiological and behavioral experiments. First we monitored taste-evoked activity in the nucleus tractus solitarii of anesthetized rats during intravenous injection of 2 or 6 micrograms/kg of CCK or vehicle. We found no significant effects on taste activity during the 30-min period after CCK administration. Then we employed a conditioned taste-aversion paradigm to measure the rat's perceived intensity of a series of glucose concentrations under the same three experimental conditions. At 2 micrograms/kg, CCK had no effect; at 6 micrograms/kg there was a significant increase in the perceived intensity of 2 of the 15 test solutions, which we attribute to elevated vagal tone. The potential contribution of gastric distension was eliminated in the electrophysiological study and was minimized by brief exposures to stimuli in the behavioral experiment. Thus CCK administration, in the absence of significant gastric distension, does not appear to alter taste responsiveness.