Return to search

Inhibition of thirst when dehydrated rats drink water or saline

The present experiments sought to identify the physiological signals that inhibit thirst when dehydrated rats drink water or NaCl solution. Rats were deprived of drinking fluid but not food overnight. When allowed to drink again, the dehydrated animals consumed water or saline (0.05 M, 0.10 M, 0.15 M, or 0.20 M NaCl solution) almost continuously for 5-8 min before stopping. The volumes consumed were similar regardless of which fluid they ingested, but blood analyses indicated that increased plasma osmolality and decreased plasma volume, or both, still remained when drinking terminated. These results suggest that the composition of the ingested fluid is less significant than its volume in providing an early signal that inhibits thirst and fluid consumption by dehydrated rats. Analyses of the gastrointestinal tracts revealed that the cumulative volume in the stomach and small intestine correlated highly with the amount consumed regardless of which fluid was ingested. These and other results suggest that the volume of fluid ingested by dehydrated rats is sensed by stretch receptors detecting distension of the stomach and small intestine, which provide an early inhibitory stimulus of thirst.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04262006-141151
Date28 June 2006
CreatorsHoffmann, Myriam L.
ContributorsEdward M. Stricker, Alan F. Sved, Linda M. Rinaman
PublisherUniversity of Pittsburgh
Source SetsUniversity of Pittsburgh
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04262006-141151/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

Page generated in 0.0459 seconds