Flavor change and food deprivation are not critical for post-oral glucose appetition in mice

- Mice will lick a sweet flavor paired with intragastric (IG) water in 1-h tests.
- Shifting to a new flavor paired with IG glucose rapidly increases licking.
- Both food-restricted and ad lib mice increase licking and preference for the flavor.
- Mice show appetition even without a change in the flavor with the shift to glucose.

When mice trained to consume a CS− flavored solution paired with intragastric (IG) water self-infusion are given a new CS+ flavor paired with IG glucose self-infusion, their intake is stimulated within minutes in the first CS+ test. They also display a preference for the CS+ over the CS− in two-bottle tests. These indicators of post-oral appetite stimulation (appetition) have been studied in food-restricted mice, with novel CS+ and CS− flavors. Two experiments tested whether deprivation and flavor novelty are needed for stimulation of intake. Exp. 1 compared food-restricted and ad libitum fed C57BL/6 mice trained for 1 h/day: 3 sessions with CS− flavor and IG water followed by 3 sessions with a novel CS+ flavor and IG 16% glucose. Ad libitum (AL) fed mice licked less overall, but like the food-restricted (FR) group they increased licking in the first session. In the choice test, FR mice displayed a significant CS+ preference (73%) whereas AL mice had a weaker preference (64%). In Exp. 2, food-restricted mice were trained with a flavor and IG water, and then the Same or a New flavor paired with IG 8% glucose. The glucose infusion rapidly stimulated intakes in the first and subsequent sessions and to the same degree in the two groups. Both groups also showed similar reductions in licking in extinction tests with IG water infusions. These data show that mice need not be explicitly food deprived or given a novel flavor cue to increase ongoing ingestion in response to post-oral glucose stimulation.