Differential effects of sugars and the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose (Bay g 5421) on satiety in the Zucker obese rat.

To examine the satiety responses of Zucker obese and lean rats to simple sugars, adult male rats were given equicaloric intragastric infusions of fructose, glucose, and sucrose. All three sugars reduced the short-term intakes of both genotypes, although no reliable between-genotype differences in the satiety effects of the sugars were observed. Within each genotype, fructose had a larger satiety effect than sucrose. To examine a potential basis for the observed effects, rats were given sucrose infusions containing the intestinal glucosidase inhibitor acarbose (Bay g 5421). In obese rats, addition of a low dose of acarbose increased the satiety effect of sucrose infusion. Delaying carbohydrate absorption via acarbose administration may alter gastrointestinal and/or postabsorptive satiety processes, and may prove useful as a probe for investigating the nature of satiety signals.