SALT TASTE THRESHOLDS OF NORMAL AND ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS¹

Abstract

THE RESULTS of previous self-selection experiments showed that removal of the adrenals in rats greatly increased the appetite for sodium chloride (1, 2). In some instances the appetite as reflected in the voluntary salt intake increased 10 to 18 times over the preoperative level. Incidental observations indicated that adrenalectomy also lowered the taste threshold for salt. With a slightly modified self-selection technic a special study has now been made of salt taste thresholds of normal as well as of adrenalectomized rats. At the outset each rat had access to i graduated inverted bottles filled with distilled water. After 8 to 16 days when the intake from each bottle had reached a fairly constant level, one bottle was filled with a sodium chloride solution of an estimated subliminal concentration. Each day there after the concentration was increased in small steps until the rats manifested a consistent preference for the salt solution.