Effect of food intake on hypermetabolic response to burn injury in guinea pigs

We have studied the effect of caloric intake on metabolic rate in normal and burned (20-25% body surface area, BSA) guinea pigs. Food intake was standardized by means of infusing a liquid diet (48 kcal/day) through chronic gastrostomy tubes continuously for 16 hours per day. We found that feeding control animals a diet insufficient to meet their daily caloric requirements nevertheless resulted in a significantly higher basal oxygen consumption (VO2) 8 hours after food than during fasting. The incremental increase in basal VO2 induced by feeding burned animals (20-25% BSA) was even greater than in controls. Thus, although basal VO2 was similar in control fasted and burned-fasted animals, basal VO2 in burned-fed animals was significantly greater than in control-fed animals.