Anaphylactic shock-induced conditioned taste aversion. II. Correlation between taste aversion and indicators of anaphylactic shock.

Previous studies (V. J. Djurić, B. M. Marković, M. Lazarević, & B. D. Janković, 1987, in B. D. Janković, B. M. Marković, & N. H. Spector (Eds.), Neuroimmune interactions, pp. 561-568, New York: New York Acad. Sci.; B. M. Marković, V. J. Djurić, M. Lazarević, & B. D. Janković, 1988, Brain Behav. Immun. 2, 11-23) have shown that rats learn to associate the taste of saccharin with the induction of anaphylactic shock, thus exhibiting conditioned taste aversion (CTA) toward an otherwise preferred saccharin solution. The present experiment investigates the effect of unconditioned stimulus intensity (the amount of antigen used for the induction of shock) on CTA. Rats were sensitized to ovalbumin and subjected to a conditioning trial in which the conditioned stimulus (CS; saccharin solution given orally) signaled the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus (US; shocking doses of ovalbumin ranging from 0.5 to 3 mg given intraperitoneally). Behavioral signs, hematocrit, and rectal temperature were used for evaluation of anaphylactic shock. Twenty-four hours after the conditioning trial, rats were subjected to a two-bottle preference test between saccharin solution and water. Multiple regression statistical analysis revealed significant correlations among saccharin preference ratio, dose of antigen used for the induction of shock, behavioral signs of shock, rise in hematocrit, and fall in rectal temperature. A dose-dependent relation among saccharin preference ratio and physiological indicators of shock suggests that conditioned anaphylactic shock-induced avoidance behavior is functionally related to homeostatic factors involved in immune reactivity.