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Title: THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF SIMMONDSIN ON FOOD INTAKE AND BODY WEIGHT OF RATS

Author
item YORK, DAVID - PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RES
item SINGER, LORI - PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RES
item BRAY, GEORGE - PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RES
item Abbott Dr, Thomas
item OLIVER, JULIAN - PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RES

Submitted to: Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/12/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Oil from jojoba, a crop grown in Arizona and California, has a good market but the seed meal is not used currently and is a waste product. Simmondsin, a hunger satiation ingredient in jojoba seeds, has the potential for weight control, but in this study, in addition to the proof of its effect to reduce food intake, the level of chronic toxicity and side effects of high doses were established in rats. Food intake was reduced to 50% of normal and after 6 to 7 weeks of this diet 50% of the rats died. It is important to establish safe levels and chronic toxicity of natural simmondsin, so that safe formulations and protocols can be established for regulatory approval.

Technical Abstract: Background: Simmondsin is a cyanomethylene glycoside, derived from the desert shrub, Simmondsia chinensis. Simmondsin has been reported to produce weight loss and the decrease food intake, an effect that can be blocked by treatment with an inhibitor of cholecystokinin. Study Design: Six experiments were conducted on male Sprague-Dawley rats. Results: in two (2) acute experiments where simmondsin was either added to the diet or injected, there was a dose-related reduction in food intake. The CCKA antagonist, lorglumide, did not block the acute inhibitory effects of simmondsin on food intake, and simmondsin did not produce conditioned taste aversion. In two (2) chronic feeding studies, the high dose of simmondsin (0.5%) in the diet produced profound weight loss and death in rats. At autopsy, the kidney, heart and liver of the treated animals were larger than the pair- fed anim nd there was a marked suppression of the bone marrow elements with severe anemia.