Specificity of Gold Thioglucose for Ventromedial Hypothalamic Lesions and Hyperphagia

Abstract

IN a recent publication¹ it was shown that gold thioglucose produces lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamic area of injected mice. It had previously been shown² that gold thiomalate, although similar to gold thioglucose with respect to toxicity, gold content and molecular weight, does not cause obesity; its injection does not lead to hypothalamic lesions¹. To study further the specificity of gold thioglucose in causing ventromedial hypothalamic lesions and hyperphagia the action of other gold thio compounds was examined, in particular a compound where the gold thio moiety is linked to a radical very similar to glucose, namely, gold thiosorbitol (supplied through the kindness of Abbott and Co.), and compounds where the gold thio moiety is linked to metabolites other than glucose: besides gold thiomalate, gold thiocaproic acid and gold thioglycerol were available (also supplied by Abbott and Co.). The effects of gold thioglycoanilide and gold sodium thiosulphate were also examined. The main dose of each compound used in these experiments was calculated to provide as much gold as is contained in the dose of gold thioglucose found most effective to yield obese mice. (In a series of 800 Swiss mice treated with gold thioglucose 1 mgm./gm. body-weight was found to induce obesity in 60 per cent of surviving mice and varying degrees of ventromedial hypothalamic damage in all animals examined.) For each compound in addition to the main dose a number of multiples and fractions of this standard dose were used.