Resistance of the gerbil hypothalamus to gold thioglucose lesion formation.

Mongolian gerbils do not develop ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesions, as seen in mice, when challenged with gold thioglucose (GTG, 800, 1600 and 3600 mg/kg IP). Insulin administration or bilateral adrenalectomy, procedures which sensitize nonresponsive mice to GTG, have no effect in the gerbil given GTG. These findings suggest that the gerbil VMH differs significantly in structure and/or function compared with the mouse by not possessing glucoreceptive cells sensitive to GTG.