Regulation of food intake during long term loss of food from the intestines of the rat

Summary Four pairs of parabiotic rats had a thirty cm segment of each rat's distal duodenum and proximal jejunum exchanged for the same segment of the partner's intestines. The food eaten by one rat of each pair was absorbed in nearly equal amounts into both rats. When the liquid diet was diluted with an equal volume of water, the rats adjusted by nearly doubling their food intake in 1 day. When the rats lost a substantial portion of their ingested food from their intestines, they failed to increase their food intake during 5 days. The amount of food eaten was unaffected by a considerable decrease in the amount of absorbed nutrient and a 6% decrease in body weight.