Hypothalamic obesity in female rats in absence of vagally mediated hyperinsulinemia

In order to assess the role of vagally mediated hyperinsulinemia in hypothalamic obesity, plasma insulin and glucose levels were assayed in vagotomized and sham-vagotomized female rats after a 6-h fast and after a measured glucose meal both before and 10-14 days after ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesions. Both groups displayed similar gains in body weight in the first 10 days after VMH lesions, but only the sham-vagotomized VMH-lesioned animals displayed elevated fasting insulin levels. Fasting glucose levels did not differ either before or after the lesion. The insulin response to oral glucose was increased in VMH rats, both in vagotomized and sham-vagotomized animals, and it is concluded that the hyperresponsiveness to oral glucose is independent of vagal mediation. Vagotomy markedly exaggerated the glucose and insulin response to oral glucose loading in both intact rats and rats with VMH lesions, probably as a result of more rapid absorption of glucose from the intestine. It is concluded that the fasting hyperinsulinemia that is characteristic of VMH animals is under vagal control and that its elimination does not prevent the development of obesity.