SGLT1 sugar transporter/sensor is required for post-oral glucose appetition

Recent findings suggest that the intestinal sodium-glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1) glucose transporter and sensor mediates, in part, the appetite-stimulation actions of intragastric (IG) glucose and nonmetabolizable α-methyl-d-glucopyranoside (MDG) infusions in mice. Here, we investigated the role of SGLT1 in sugar conditioning using SGLT1 knockout (KO) and C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice. An initial experiment revealed that both KO and WT mice maintained on a very low-carbohydrate diet display normal preferences for saccharin, which was used in the flavored conditioned stimulus (CS) solutions. In experiment 2, mice were trained to drink one flavored solution (CS+) paired with an IG MDG infusion and a different flavored solution (CS-) paired with IG water infusion. In contrast to WT mice, KO mice decreased rather than increased the intake of the CS+ during training and failed to prefer the CS+ over the CS- in a choice test. In experiment 3, the KO mice also decreased their intake of a CS+ paired with IG glucose and avoided the CS+ in a choice test, unlike WT mice, which preferred the CS+ to CS-. In experiment 4, KO mice, like WT mice preferred a glucose + saccharin solution to a saccharin solution. These findings support the involvement of SGLT1 in post-oral glucose and MDG conditioning. The results also indicate that sugar malabsorption in KO mice has inhibitory effects on sugar intake but does not block their natural preference for sweet taste.