Transient hyperphagia after sodium selenite injection in mice.

Injection (s.c.) of Na2SeO3 (SS, 20-30 mumol/kg) into male mice initiated eating, which began about 20 min after injection and continued for about 3 h. This initiation effect was observed for mice of different ages and at different times of the day. Other findings of this study were: (1) early morning injection (30 mumol/kg) caused increased food intake, as examined by gastric content 3 h after injection, compared to daytime injection; and (2) SS-induced transient hyperphagia was observed at ambient temperatures of 10 and 22 degrees C, but not at 37 degrees C. This paper discusses these results in relation to SS-induced hypothermia.