Effects of aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone on food intake and body weight.

Conducted an experiment with 48 female adrenalectomized Sprague-Dawley rats, who were injected daily with aldosterone (.25 mg/kg) or deoxycorticosterone (3 mg/kg) in combination with corticosterone. The mineralocorticoids increased food intake and weight gain well beyond that of controls receiving only corticosterone injections. The weight gain was not wholly dependent on increased food intake, as separate groups of Ss maintained on a restricted diet (10 g of laboratory chow/day) also displayed significant mineralocorticoid-stimulated weight gain. Although carcass composition was not directly determined, the undifferentiated wet/dry tissue ratios, hematocrit values, and nasoanal lengths found across groups suggested that the observed effect of mineralocorticoids was on body fat. Aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone can have important actions on energy metabolism as well as on sodium regulation. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)