Distinctive features of dietary phosphate supply

Dietary phosphate has profound effects on growth and renal handling of the compound. On the basis of changes in growth rate and food intake, after alterations in phosphate load, our laboratory previously suggested that these effects are mediated by intestinal signals (Landsman A, Lichtstein D, Bacaner M, and Ilani A. Br J Nutr 86: 217–223, 2001). The aim of this study was to further evaluate the role of dietary phosphate on food intake and appetite and specific organ growth, and to test for the presence of a serum factor that may affect renal phosphate handling in phosphate-resupplied rats. The experimental design was based on a comparison between groups of rats receiving identical low-phosphate diets but drinking water containing either phosphate or chloride. We show that 1) changes in food intake after alterations in phosphate load occurred in parallel with variations in digestive system distention, suggesting that dietary phosphate has also a direct effect on appetite; 2) dietary phosphate-dependent gr...