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Facilitory effect of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on hypothalamically induced feeding

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Abstract

Six male Lewis rats were tested for the effect of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) on feeding evoked by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus. Treatment with Δ9-THC (0.4 mg/kg IP) decreased frequency threshold for feeding by 20.5% (±4.3), causing a leftward shift in the function relating stimulation frequency to the latency to begin eating 45-mg food pellets upon stimulation onset; there was no change in the asymptotic performance that was approached with sufficiently high stimulation frequencies. Naloxone (1 and 2 mg/kg) reduced the facilitory effect of Δ9-THC, but did so at doses that can inhibit feeding in the no-drug condition. These data are consistent with evidence implicating endogenous opioids in feeding, and suggest (but do not confirm) that the facilitation of feeding by Δ9-THC may be mediated by endogenous opioids. The facilitation of stimulation-induced feeding by doses of Δ9-THC that have been found to facilitate brain stimulation reward is consistent with evidence suggesting common elements in the brain mechanisms of these two behavioral effects of medial forebrain bundle stimulation.

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Author notes

  1. Weronika Trojniar

    Present address: Department of Animal Physiology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Weronika Trojniar & Roy A. Wise

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  1. Weronika Trojniar
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  2. Roy A. Wise
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Trojniar, W., Wise, R.A. Facilitory effect of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on hypothalamically induced feeding. Psychopharmacology 103, 172–176 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02244199

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02244199

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