Accepted Preprint first posted online on 20 April 2009
Journal of Endocrinology 2009;202:29.
Journal of Endocrinology (2009) In press
DOI: 10.1677/JOE-09-0080
© 2009 Society for Endocrinology
Dietary modulation of ghrelin and leptin and gorging behavior after weight loss in the obese Zucker rat
Bernard Beck and
Sebastien Richy
B Beck, U954, INSERM, Vandoeuvre, France
S Richy, EA3453, Université Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France
Correspondence: Bernard Beck, Email: Bernard.Beck{at}nancy.inserm.fr
In this study, we measured ghrelin and leptin in obese Zucker rats after weight loss induced by calorie restriction using either a low-fat (LF) or high-energy palatable (HEPa) diet. After weight loss, the animals were refed lab chow and offered one hour-palatable test meals on the second and fifteenth days of refeeding. Both LF and HEPa rats lost 10% of their initial body weight (p<0.0001). Plasma ghrelin increased with calorie restriction in both groups (p<0.002) with a tendency to a higher increase in the HEPa group while plasma leptin decreased only in the LF group (p<0.01). Both groups ate the same quantity of chow during refeeding and both groups gorged on palatable diet during test-meals at a very high constant level in HEPa rats. After one week of refeeding, ghrelin levels remained elevated in HEPa rats (+33.2%; p<0.001) while returning to baseline in LF rats. Plasma leptin remained low in LF rats. We conclude that weight loss on a palatable diet is possible if total energy intake is controlled. After stopping restriction, when a palatable diet is available, observed gorging might be dependent on specific ghrelin and leptin changes.
Copyright © 2009 by the Society for Endocrinology.