Feeding pattern studies suggest that d-fenfluramine and sertraline specifically enhance the state of satiety in rats

The effects of d-fenfluramine (1.5 mg/kg) and sertraline (10 mg/kg), administered intraperitoneally once daily for seven days were studied on feeding parameters of rats over various periods. On the first day of treatment both drugs markedly reduced meal size and meal duration during the first hour and, to a lesser extent, the first 4 h. No effects were seen later. The size and duration of eating bouts were also markedly reduced by both drugs in the first hour. There was no significant effect of either drug on meal frequency in any period. Only d-fenfluramine significantly reduced the rate of eating within 4 h from the start of testing. Sertraline, but not d-fenfluramine, markedly increased locomotor activity in the first 4 h after the start of testing. The d-fenfluramine effect on eating rate disappeared by the second day whereas total intake and meal size were still reduced on day five. By days six and seven however the d-fenfluramine-treated rats did not differ from the controls. During the seven-day treatment sertraline always reduced total food eaten and meal size but caused only transient changes of locomotor activity and eating rate. Since the effects of d-fenfluramine and sertraline on meal size and food intake could be separated from the effects on eating rate and arousal, it appears that at appropriate doses these drugs specifically increase the satiating effect of food. Tolerance to this effect appears to develop more rapidly for d-fenfluramine than for sertraline.