The response to cholecystokinin (CCK) as a satiety peptide in obesity or anorexia has been tested mainly in extreme models of food intake control. In the present study, the effect of CCK-8S on food intake was investigated in a nongenetic and less-stressful model of obesity due to unspecific early postnatal overfeeding in male and female rats. Reducing the normal litter size of ten to three newborn rats on day 3 of life led to an enhanced food intake resulting in an increased body weight until adulthood. Freely fed male and female, normal and obese rats were given 10 micrograms/kg CCK-8S i.p. on day 41 and 40 micrograms/kg CCK-8S on day 91 of life and food intake was measured for 24 h. Compared with treatment with saline (i.p.) 1 day before the test, the lower dose of 10 micrograms/kg CCK-8S reduced food intake for 2 h in normal, but not in obese rats. Conversely, the higher dose of 40 micrograms/kg CCK-8S reduced food intake in both normal and obese rats for 2 h, but this effect was more evident in the obese rats. Moreover, the satiating effect of CCK-8S was more pronounced and longer lasting in male than in female rats. In summary, the data suggest that the response to CCK-8S differs in normal and obese rats and depends on sex.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Determination of metal additives and bromine in recycled thermoplasts from electronic waste by TXRF analysis.

A new method for analysis of metal additives in recycled thermoplasts from electronic waste was developed, based on dissolving the samples in an organic solvent and subsequent analysis of the corresponding solutions or suspensions by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF). The procedure proved to be considerably less time consuming than the conventional digestion of the polymer matrix. Additives containing Ti, Zn, Br, Cd, Sn, Sb, and Pb were analyzed in a hundred randomly selected samples from recycling, which provided an overview of the range of elemental concentrations in thermoplasts utilized for consumer electronics. The results were validated independently by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), subsequent regression analysis confirmed the trueness of the chosen approach.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of BOC-CCK-4 and L 365.260 on cortical 5-HT release in guinea-pigs on exposure to the elevated plus maze.

The elevated plus maze is a well-established model of anxiety, with previous results showing that guinea-pigs handled daily from birth exhibit behaviour in this test similar to rats. In the present microdialysis study exposure of the guinea-pig to the elevated plus maze increased extracellular 5-HT in the lateral prefrontal cortex. The CCK-B receptor agonist BOC-CCK-4 (10 micrograms/kg) produced 'anxious' behaviour and potentiated the rise in 5-HT observed on exposure to the X-maze. The basal release of cortical extracellular 5-HT was not affected by BOC-CCK-4. Pretreatment with the selective CCK-B antagonist L 365.260 (100 micrograms/kg) antagonized both the 'anxious' behaviour and the neurochemical changes induced by BOC-CCK-4 while L 365.260 alone produced 'anxiolytic' behaviour, decreased basal extracellular 5-HT and prevented the increase in extracellular 5-HT seen when the guinea-pigs were exposed to the X-maze. Our results show that CCK-B receptor stimulation and blockade induce changes in central extracellular 5-HT levels associated with 'anxious' and 'anxiolytic' behaviour, respectively.

Animals↗