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Sucrose Preference and Novelty-Induced Hypophagia Tests in Rats using an Automated Food Intake Monitoring System
Published on: May 8, 2020
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Palatability profile in spontaneously hypertensive rats
Emilson Donizete Pereira1, Laurival A De Luca1, José Vanderlei Menani1
1Department of Physiology and Pathology, Dentistry School, São Paulo State University-UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
Chemical Senses
|April 22, 2023
Summary
Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) exhibit heightened responses to sweet tastes, similar to salt. Their taste preferences remain strong even when dehydrated, and they show a more intense aversion to bitter tastes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Physiology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) display altered taste preferences, particularly for sodium chloride (NaCl).
- Previous studies indicate SHRs have enhanced palatability for NaCl and increased sucrose intake compared to normotensive rats.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the palatability of sucrose and quinine sulfate in SHRs compared to normotensive rats.
- To determine if taste responses in SHRs are affected by changes in bodily fluid balance (dehydration and rehydration).
Main Methods:
- Taste reactivity tests were conducted on SHRs and normotensive Holtzman rats.
- Intraoral infusions of 2% sucrose and 1.4 mM quinine sulfate were administered under euhydrated and water-deprived/partially rehydrated conditions.
- Hedonic and aversive responses were quantified based on behavioral reactions.
Main Results:
- SHRs showed significantly more hedonic responses to sucrose than normotensive rats, irrespective of hydration status.
- SHRs exhibited a greater number of aversive responses to quinine sulfate compared to normotensive rats in both hydration conditions.
- Sucrose palatability in SHRs was resistant to challenges in bodily fluid balance.
Conclusions:
- Enhanced sweet taste responses in SHRs are similar to their enhanced NaCl responses and are robust against hydration changes.
- SHRs demonstrate a more intense aversion to bitter tastes, indicating taste reward enhancement is not linked to generalized taste hypo-responsiveness.
- These findings suggest complex alterations in taste processing in SHRs, impacting both reward and aversion pathways.
