Sodium appetite after transection of the chorda tympani nerve in Wistar and Fischer 344 rats.

Acute sodium depletion in rats leads to dramatic increases in intake of hypertonic NaCl solutions, a behavior known as sodium appetite. The importance of signals conveyed by the chorda tympani (CT) nerve to the expression of sodium appetite is unclear. We examined the effects of bilateral CT transection on the short- and long-term response to sodium depletion in Wistar and Fischer 344 (F344) rat strains, because Wistar rats normally display a NaCl preference in the absence of need whereas F344 rats avoid NaCl. In both strains, sodium appetite after CT transection and treatment with the diuretic furosemide was delayed and blunted or eliminated. The results suggest that signals conveyed by the CT nerve are important in the expression of a sodium appetite. Effects on F344 rats are particularly interesting because CT transection surgery appears to have opposite effects on NaCl intake depending on whether F344 rats are sodium replete or deplete.