THE INFLUENCE OF EXERCISE ON ENERGY-BALANCE CHANGES INDUCED BY VENTROMEDIAL HYPOTHALAMIC-LESION IN THE RAT

The effects of a hypothalamic ventromedial area lesion on energy balan ce were tested in exercising rats and in sedentary rats to add further information about the type of obesity developed after ventromedial le sion. Four groups of six male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Group 1: sham-lesioned and sedentary rats, which were utilized as control rats (C); group 2: sham-lesioned and exercising rats (E); group 3: lesioned and sedentary rats (L); group 4: lesioned and exercising rats (LE). T he exercise consisted of daily swimming for 30 min. Resting oxygen con sumption, food intake, and body weight were measured before any treatm ent and 3 weeks after the lesion or/and the exercise period. The resul ts showed that the oxygen consumption increased in the E and LE groups but not in the C and L groups. Food intake increased more in E and LE groups than in L group. The increases in body weight were higher in L and LE than in the E and C groups. These findings suggest that exerci se modifies resting oxygen consumption and food intake in lesioned rat s, but does not influence the degree of obesity. Thus, the ventromedia l syndrome can be considered a type of obesity not completely unregula ted.