RESTING OXYGEN-CONSUMPTION IN RATS DURING FOOD RESTRICTION, STARVATION AND REFEEDING

Oxygen consumption was measured in male rats during starvation and dur ing different regimens of restricted feeding and refeeding after starv ation. Changes in oxygen consumption and body mass were mostly paralle l, but rats with a very reduced food intake displayed the same reducti on in oxygen consumption as starved rats, despite the smaller reductio n in body mass. Also, rats fed different amounts of food after starvat ion had different oxygen consumptions, but displayed the same changes in body mass. Two different refeeding regimens with restricted food am ounts either induced a further depression of oxygen consumption (i.e. below starvation oxygen consumption), or a stabilizing of oxygen consu mption on the level of starvation. The changes in oxygen consumption d uring restriction and feeding after starvation indicate that reduction s in resting metabolic rate may not always be predicted from either bo dy mass change or food intake.