CHOLECYSTOKININ DECREASES FOOD-INTAKE IN RATS

Partially purified cholecystokinin (CCK) was injected intraperitoneall y into fasted rats prior to food presentation. The hormone produced a large dose-related suppression of intake of solid and liquid diets. Id entical doses of the synthetic terminal octapeptide of cholecystokinin produced identical results. An effective dose of CCK did not suppress drinking after water deprivation, Treated animals did not appear ill and mere not hyperthermic; neither CCK nor the octapeptide produced le arning of a taste aversion in bait-shyness tests. The effect of CCK is not a property of all gut hormones, since injections of secretin did not affect feeding. These studies raise the possibility that CCK plays an inhibitory role in the short-term control of feeding behavior.