Obesity-inducing hypothalamic knife cuts: effects on lipolysis and blood insulin levels

The effect of two experimental manipulations designed to mobilize lipids from adipose tissue have been investigated in rats with parasagittal knife cuts in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH). Those animals which displayed hyperphagia during the initial 5 days VMH knife cuts were then restricted in food intake to reduce body weights to levels comparable to that of the sham-operated controls. Two weeks following the knife-cut lesions, or sham operations, animals in the first experiment were exposed to the cold for 60 min, and those in the second experiment were injected with 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG). The injections of 2-DG increased the level of glycerol in the control animals but not in the animals with VMH knife cuts. Both groups showed a rise in glucose. Plasma insulin and triglycerides were the same in both groups. Exposure to the cold increased the level of glycerol in both groups. The insulin levels were lower in the corresponding groups with knife cuts. These studies show that VMH knife cuts do not produce hyperinsulinemia in pair-gained rats.