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Acute and chronic effects of δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on food intake by rats

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Abstract

The effects of intraperitoneally injected δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were compared with d-amphetamine sulfate (d-AMP) on food intake in rats which were given access to food for 6 hrs each day. Food intake was markedly reduced in a dose-related fashion by THC (2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg) in the first 2 hrs after drug administration. This anorexic effect persisted for the next 4 hrs and even on the next day. The anorexic potency of d-AMP (1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg) was approximately twice that of THC in the initial 2-hrs interval after a single dose, but during the next 4 hrs and on the next day there was a compensatory increase in food consumption. Daily administration of THC (2.5 mg/kg) for 9 days greatly decreased food intake and body weight gain of animals which were injected immediately before feeding, but had little effect on animals injected 16 hrs before feeding.

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Sofia, R.D., Barry, H. Acute and chronic effects of δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on food intake by rats. Psychopharmacologia 39, 213–222 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421028

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421028

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