Short-term regulation of energy intake is intact in hypophagic tumor-bearing rats.

Anorexia and weight loss are major problems in the care of cancer patients. Data from laboratory studies using an animal model of tumor-induced anorexia suggest that energy intake may be regulated in the tumor-bearing host as it is in healthy animals. The purpose of the present study was to determine if hypophagic tumor-bearing rats would alter their food intake in response to manipulations known to affect food intake in normal healthy animals. Both tumor-bearing and healthy animals increased their food intake when housed at 22 versus 25 degrees C and reduced their food intake when injected with anorexigenic doses of bacterial lipopolysaccharide or interleukin-1 alpha. These data suggest that selected physiological responses affecting short-term food intake are intact in the hypophagic tumor bearing host.