Mm. Minear et al., AMILORIDE INHIBITS TASTE NERVE RESPONSES TO NACL AND KCL IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY AND FISCHER-344 RATS, Physiology & behavior, 60(2), 1996, pp. 507-516
In a two-bottle test, Sprague-Dawley rats preferentially consume a gre
ater amount of hypotonic and isotonic NaCl solutions relative to water
, whereas inbred Fischer 344 (F344) rats fail to prefer NaCl solutions
at any concentration relative to water. To determine whether taste co
ntributes to this strain difference, we measured the integrated neural
responses of the chorda tympani nerve to a concentration range of NaC
l and KCl solutions. The amiloride-sensitive component of the taste ne
rve response was assessed by adding amiloride during salt stimulation
in Experiment 1, and by pretreating the taste receptors with amiloride
prior to salt stimulation in Experiment 2. Adding amiloride to NaCl d
uring sustained neural activity suppressed chorda tympani nerve respon
ses more than pretreating the tongue with amiloride. Adding amiloride
during salt stimulation also partially suppressed chorda tympani neuro
n responses to KCl, a presumed control stimulus. The neural responses
of the chorda tympani nerve to NaCl and KCl were similar for salt-avoi
ding F344 and salt-preferring Sprague-Dawley rats. However, amiloride
pretreatment suppressed the taste nerve responses to NaCl significantl
y less in F344 rats than in Sprague-Dawley rats. The strain difference
in the amiloride-sensitive component of the taste response may contri
bute to the difference in NaCl preference.