Food intake regulation and tonic immobility in the domestic fowl as medicated by tyrosine and tryptophan

Abstract

The effects of intragastrically administered tryptophan and tyrosine, which are direct precursors of brain neurotransmitters affecting food intake, were investigated. Differences in sensitivities and/or responses in relatively fast-growing and slow-growing strains of chickens were also tested. The amino acids were intubated intragastrically in a series of four experiments. Food consumption following tryptophan intubation decreased in both the slow and fast-growing strains. Increased food intake was observed in the slow-growing birds as a result of tyrosine treatment suggesting that food consumption can be altered by manipulation of dietary amino acids. Tyrosine treatment did not stimulate food intake in the fast-growing strain, implying that chickens in this population were in a state of maximal or near maximal stimulation, and thus relatively incapable of increasing food intake.

To determine whether the changes observed in feeding behavior were perhaps due to some general inhibition or stimulation of the central nervous system rather than the result of mediation of feeding mechanisms in the brain, the effects of intragastrically administered tyrosine and tryptophan on tonic immobility (TI) were also tested. Duration and susceptibility of TI were unaffected by tyrosine and tryptophan, suggesting that these amino acids acted upon mechanisms specifically involved in the regulation of food intake.