Cholecystokinin reduces body temperature in vehicle- but not capsaicin-pretreated rats.

Systemic administration of cholecystokinin C-terminal octapeptide (CCK-8) decreases body temperature. However, it remains unclear whether reduction of body temperature is concomitant with suppression of food intake at CCK-8 doses that approach physiological levels. We examined rectal temperature after intraperitoneal CCK-8, 4 micrograms/kg, both in the presence and absence of a preferred food. We found that rectal temperature was significantly reduced by CCK-8 in both conditions and that the reduction of temperature coincided with the time of maximal suppression of food intake by CCK-8. In rats pretreated systemically with 25 or 175 mg/kg of the sensory neurotoxin capsaicin, both suppression of food intake and reduction of body temperature were significantly attenuated or abolished. The 25 mg/kg capsaicin treatment did not alter corneal chemosensitivity or the ability of rats to maintain normothermia at elevated ambient temperature, suggesting that capsaicin damage to neural substrates mediating CCK-8-induced reduction of body temperature 1) did not generalize to cephalic or peripheral warm-sensitive structures, and 2) was limited to fine sensory fibers accessible to intraperitoneal capsaicin application.