Dietary self-selection following subdiaphragmatic vagotomy in the white rat

Nineteen female Wistar rats were employed in a self-selection-of-diet study assessing the effects of vagotomy on macronutrient consumption. Nutrients offered were a 30% sucrose solution, a 15% casein hydrolysate solution, and olive oil. In addition, noncaloric bulk, vitamins, and water were allowed. Bilaterally, subdiaphragmatically vagotomized rats showed a significant decrement in carbohydrate ingestion and daily total caloric intake (P less than .05 in both comparisons). Fat and protein intakes were unreliably altered. It is hypothesized that the vagus nerve relays glucose absorption and/or storage information from the periphery to the brain (perhaps lateral hypothalamusy, and hence, vagotomy produces carbohydrate-intake decrements, specifically. The decrement could also be explained as resulting from efferent effects of vagotomy such as decreased gut hormonal release.