Alteration of food intake following intracerebroventricular administration of plasma from free-feeding domestic fowl

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the presence of a factor in the plasma of the domestic fowl that alters food intake when injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle. Plasma collected from free-feeding and 24-hour fasted birds was lyophilized and reconstituted to 2, 4, or 5 times normal concentration. Stainless steel guide cannulae were stereotaxically implanted into the lateral cerebral ventricle of 8-week-old Single Comb White Leghorn cockerels. Free-feeding birds received 10 μl intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of normal (Experiment 1) and concentrated (Experiments 2, 3, and 4) plasma collected from free-feeding and 24-hour fasted birds. Artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) served as the control. Food intake was significantly decreased by ICV injections of 2, 4, and 5 times normal concentration of plasma from fed birds. Plasma from fasted birds did not alter food intake regardless of concentration, but did significantly reduce water intake when concentrated to five times normal. It appears that a satiety factor, which can be detected by the central nervous system, is present in the plasma of free-feeding domestic fowl.