To test the hypothesis that hypothalamic β-endorphin levels were related to the body weight changes occurring with ovarian steroid treatments, 80 adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized and allowed to recover for 7 days. Four treatment groups of 20 each were subjected to daily injections for 14 days with A) oil, B) β-estradiol benzoate (2µg), C) β-estradiol benzoate (2µg) plus progesterone (5mg), or D) progesterone (5mg). Weight gain was significantly (p < 0.01) lower in the estrogen group when compared to the control, estrogen/progesterone, or progesterone groups. The estrogen/progesterone-treated group gained significantly less weight than either the control or progesterone group. A significant (p < 0.05) decrease in food intake was also observed in the estrogen and estrogen/progesterone groups when compared to the control and progesterone groups, but not between each other. The progesterone-treated group was not significantly different from the controls in either weight gain or food intake. Hypothalamic β-endorphin (ng/mg protein) concentrations were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the estrogen- and estrogen/progesterone-treated groups compared to the control and progesterone groups. Again, much like the weight gain, food intake, and hypothalamic β-endorphin (ng/mg protein), the estrogen and estrogen/progesterone groups had significantly (p < 0.05) heavier adrenal weights when compared to the controls and progesterone groups. There was no significant difference in plasma corticosterone levels between any of the groups. In this study, hypothalamic β-endorphin (ng/mg protein) appeared to be effected by ovarian steroid hormone treatment. Whether this is related to the weight gain also observed with the treatments remains to be determined. / Ph. D.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109942 |
| Date | January 1986 |
| Creators | Brown, Amy C. |
| Contributors | Human Nutrition and Foods |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation, Text |
| Format | ix, 150 leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 15233939 |
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