Ingestive/aversive response of rats to sweet stimuli. Influence of glucose, oil, and casein hydrolyzate gastric loads.

Facial consummatory responses reflecting ingestive and aversive perceptions were studied and quantified in rats chronically implanted with gastric and oral catheters. A gustatory stimulus of 50 microliters of 0.6 mol.l-1 sucrose was injected into the mouth every 5 min during 90 min. At time zero, one of seven loads was injected into the stomach. These consisted of, 5 ml of water, or 5 ml solution containing 1 g glucose, 3 g glucose, 1 g casein hydrolyzate, 3 g casein hydrolyzate, or of oil 0.6 ml, or 1.4 ml. The typical ingestive facial consummatory responses in response to sweet stimuli were observed prior to all gastric loads, and also after the water load. On the other hand, the consummatory responses to sweet stimuli turned aversive after all three high-calorie gastric loads. The magnitude of this decrease in palatability (negative alliesthesia) was similar after glucose, casein hydrolyzate, and oil. The reversal of the consummatory responses from ingestive to aversive did not reach the threshold of statistical significance after the three low-calorie gastric loads. These results would tend to show that the intestinal signal for alimentary alliesthesia is nonspecific.