Effect of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, propranolol, on feeding induced by noradrenaline and muscimol in rats kept at high and temperate-ambient temperatures.

Both the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor agonist, muscimol, and noradrenaline stimulated the feeding behavior of rats in the two environments. When noradrenaline or muscimol was administered, however, the food intake at 26 degrees C was greater than that at 33 degrees C. In addition, the stimulatory effect of noradrenaline on food intake was significantly depressed by propranolol pretreatment at both temperatures. The stimulatory effect of muscimol on food intake was significantly depressed by the propranolol pretreatment at 33 degrees C but not at 26 degrees C. Some eating-stimulatory subsystems associated with feeding behavior induced by noradrenaline or muscimol might have been depressed in the hot environment, thus the food intake increased by these drugs in rats acclimated to the hot environment was less than that in rats acclimated to the temperate environment.