Alterations in ingestive behavior following experimental portacaval anastomosis in rats

Following surgical construction of an end-to-side portacaval shunt (PCS), male rats exhibited exaggerated consumption of glucose, saccharin, saline, and ethanol solutions relative to sham-operated rats in 24-hr preference tests with water present. Spontaneous daily water intake was also increased, but daily food intake and body weight were decreased by PCS. The overconsumption of glucose, saccharin, and saline exhibited by rats with portacaval shunts was reduced, or eliminated, by providing a corn supplement to their diet, consistent with the view that the disturbance of amino acid balance may have contributed to this ingestive abnormality. In a series of short drinking tests, rats with portacaval shunts consumed more of both 10% glucose and 10% fructose (given in separate tests) than sham-operated rats and glucose intake was greater than fructose intake for both of these groups. However, neither surgical nor saccharide condition affected the duration of the first bout or the initial inter-bout interval, indicating that the relative satiating properties of these two monosaccharides were probably not altered by portacaval shunting.