Presentation Details
The scent of organo leaves regulates sodium chloride consumption in mice.

Kazumi Osada1, Motoko Ohata1, Nana Aoyagi1, Akira Hosono1, Issei Yokoyama1, michio komai2.

1Nihon University, Fujisawa, Japan.2Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Abstract


Although several food odors might modulate salt appetite in rodents and humans, nothing is known about the direct evidence of odors modulating sodium consumption of mice in the experimental setting. The present study aims to investigate the effect of the scent of oregano to control the preference for sodium chloride in mice, and then explore the active component of odorants to control the salt appetite. Carvacrol, the candidate of the active component, was identified from dried oregano leaf with GC-MS in conjunction with HS-SPME. Sixty-six C57BL/6j mice (Male 72, Female 54; 2-5 months old) were employed in the olfactory behavioral study. Before experiments, all experimental mice were generalized with the scent of oregano, then conducted the two-bottle choice test (water vs 0.15M NaCl aqueous solution) presence or absence of an odor generator with 1g oregano. As a result, in females, the oregano and carvacrol odor significantly decreased the rate and amount of saline intake. The oregano odor achieved similar results in males as in females. Although carvacrol significantly reduced the rate of saline intake for males, the inhibition effect was weaker than in females. This exposure of oregano to the male mice induced Fos-immunoreactivity of the ventral parts of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) to control salt intake without activating the proximal area, including other parts of the BST. In addition, the sensitivity of female mice to the oregano odor was more sensitive for most of the detected areas than males however, the ventral parts of the  BST were the most sensitively respond to the oregano odor.  The scent of oregano decreases salt liking, and this effect is at least partly due to carvacrol as the active component of salt reduction in the oregano odor.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.

View Questions & Answers for this Presentation

No questions or discussion have been posted for this presentation yet. You may ask a questions using the tab above. Please note that ONLY the questions the presenter chooses to answer publicly will be posted here.



Ask A Question

You may submit a question to the presenter below. All questions may not receive a response.


View/Download Proceedings Manuscript