The Effect of Gold Thioglucose on Feed Consumption in Domestic Fowl ,

Abstract

Five microliters of a solution containing either 0, .5, 1.0, 2.0, or 5.0 mg of gold thioglucose (GTG), dissolved in autoclaved distilled water, was injected into the third ventricle of the brains of 45 nine-week-old chickens. The level of GTG administered was linearly related to mortality but had no influence on either feed consumption or body weight gain through 9 weeks postsurgery. Surviving birds were sacrificed and the brains processed for histological studies. There was no evidence of a selective GTG uptake by ventromedial hypothalamic cells, suggesting an absence of glucoreceptors as demonstrated in some mammals. A species difference in GTG sensitivity has not been ruled out by these data. (