Influence of hypothalamically induced restlessness under fasted and fed conditions on plasma levels of glucose, free fatty acids and total cholesterol

Abstract

Influence of hypothalamically induced emotional behavior on plasma levels of epinephrine (E), norepinephrine (NE), glucose, cortisol, free fatty acids (FFA) and total cholesterol (T‐C) were examined in cats under both fasted and fed conditions. Restlessness was evoked intermittently for 6 h by electrical stimulation of the anteromedial hypothalamus (AMH). Blood was sampled immediately before, 1 h after and 6 h after the start of stimulation. Both E and glucose levels in the restlessness group increased markedly after 1 h and then tended to decrease after 6 h in fasted and fed states. In the restlessness group the NE level increased after 1 h and further increased after 6 h and cortisol level increased markedly, whether cats were fasted or fed. The FFA level in the fasted restlessness group showed no change while it increased in the fasted control group after 6 h. By contrast, the FFA level in the fed restlessness group significantly increased after 6 h while no change was observed in the fed control group. The T‐C level decreased only under the fasted condition in both restlessness and control groups. These results indicated that AMH‐induced restlessness elicited marked sympatho‐adrenal activation and hyperglycemia whether cats were fasted or fed while the behavior showed a different pattern in the response of plasma FFA between fasted and fed conditions. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.