Abstract:
In the present experiments, we tested the conclusion from previous electrophysiological
experiments that gavage of sweet food and systemically applied insulin both
stimulate oxytocin secretion. To do so, we measured oxytocin secretion from
urethane-anaesthetised male rats, and demonstrated a significant increase in secretion
in response to gavage of sweetened condensed milk but not isocaloric cream,
and a significant increase in response to intravenous injection of insulin. We compared
the measurements made in response to sweetened condensed milk with the
predictions from a computational model, which we used to predict plasma concentrations
of oxytocin from the published electrophysiological responses of oxytocin
cells. The prediction from the computational model was very closely aligned to the
levels of oxytocin measured in rats in response to gavage.
