The effect of digitoxose on feeding behavior.

The effect of digitoxose (DIG) on food intake, gold thioglucose (GTG) lesion formation in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), and VMH glucose oxidation in vitro was investigated in mice. DIG significantly decreased the amount of food ingested during the day compared to controls (p less than 0.01). DIG had no effect on nocturnal feeding. GTG lesion formation in the VMH and VMH glucose oxidation were not altered by DIG treatment. These results suggest that DIG alters daytime feeding behavior by affecting extrahypothalamic or peripheral glucoreceptor sites.