Rapid development of semistarvation-induced hyperactivity in Dark Agouti rats. Excessive wheel running and effect of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

Clinical studies have found that patients with anorexia develop high activity levels. These data suggest a possible implication of activity in the aetiology of anorexia and are in line with findings obtained in animals during experimental procedures to model interactions between activity and weight loss. Activity-based anorexia (ABA) and semistarvation-induced hyperactivity (SIH) develop when laboratory rats have food access restricted to a single period in the day and are given free access to an activity wheel. This experiment sought to show the effect on weight loss of the excessive activity normally seen in Dark Agouti rats and of hyperactivity induced by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). To this end, 32 female rats of the Dark Agouti strain were selected and divided into four groups in accordance with a 2 × 2 factorial design, in which one factor was treatment (saline or MDMA) and the other was access or lack of access to an activity wheel. Animals with wheel running access displayed a marked increase in running combined with accelerated weight loss. Although pharmacological treatment resulted in no observable effect on weight loss, rats treated with 12.5 mg/kg MDMA generally registered more wheel running than did those treated with saline. Analysis of data on the temporal distribution of wheel running revealed an alteration in circadian activity patterns as a consequence of MDMA. These results, by showing a general high level of wheel running in Dark Agouti rats, once again emphasise the close relationship between activity and weight loss in the development of SIH and related phenomena such as ABA.

► Dark Agouti (DA) rats quickly lost weight when exposed to semistarvation-induced hyperactivity.
► 12.5 mg/kg MDMA did not accelerated the rate of weight loss of DA rats in comparison to saline.
► DA rats treated with 12.5 mg/kg MDMA increased activity in comparison to saline controls.
► Circadian activity of DA rats was altered by 12.5 mg/kg MDMA.
► Increased running and decreased bodyweight loss relate in the development of semistarvation-induced hyperactivity.