American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 10, 225-230, Copyright © 1962 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

A Screening Method for the Assessment of Appetite Suppressants

¹ From the Division of Gastroenterology, and the Department of Medicine, The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York

A simplified method for screening appetite suppressants in obese and nonobese animals is presented. In addition to evaluating appetite suppression, the method provides an index for estimating central nervous system activity (locomotor activity), a means of evaluating tachyphylaxis and a method for testing cumulative or delayed effects of these compounds.

d-Amphetamine (5 mg. per kg.) was employed as the standard and depressed food intake 20 per cent in control animals and 30 per cent in ATG-obese mice, with 4 plus locomotor activity patterns. dl-Amphetamine produced similar food intake suppression and activity patterns at a dose of 10 mg. per kg., whereas phenmetrazine produced equivalent results with 15 mg. per kg. Chlorphentermine (10 mg. per kg.) appeared to be the only agent tested which had a delayed onset and protracted duration of action, producing depression of food intake over a twenty-four hour period without evidence of increased locomotor activity.

Tachyphylaxis to daily injections of d-amphetamine was demonstrated over a twenty-five day period.