Effect of liver denervation on the feeding pattern of rats

This study was undertaken to assess the role of the hepatic innervation in the short-term regulatory mechanisms of food intake. A liver denervation was performed in male Wistar rats: the liver was entirely freed from the surrounding organs, its vessels (with the exception of the hepatic veins) and the bile ducts were stripped. Controls consisted of two groups of liver-denervated rats in which sympathectomy or vagotomy were carried out. A continuous recording of food intake was performed in a third group. The complete absence of the hyperglycemic response to trauma in adrenalectomized liver-denervated animals was taken as evidence of functional sympathectomy of the liver. The disappearance of a vagovagal reflex--heart rate variation brought about by a glucose injection into the portal vein--was taken as evidence of functional vagotomy. The analysis of the recorded feeding patterns of liver-denervated and sham-operated animals showed that, in rats, this liver denervation did not affect in any way the feeding behavior.