World's population over 60 years old is increasing rapidly. It is expected that in 2050
elderly population will be 22% of the total population, representing around 2 billion people.
This situation means a rising in the incidence of elderly-related diseases, and thereby the
need for long-term care. Reduction in body fat and weight are a common problem among the
institutionalized elderly. Some factors that contribute to the anorexia of aging are
decreased perception of hunger and increased satiation. This represents an increased risk of
developing cachexia even during minor illnesses. The potentially severe consequences of
anorexia of aging a greater understanding of the underlying mechanism of these changes is
highly important. Intraesophageal and intragastric infusion of 20mg/kg lidocaine results in
an increase in food intake in Wistar rats. All infusions were done 30 minutes before the
start of the meal intake (meal consisted of mealworms). It may be possible to decrease
satiation, increase hunger, and hence food intake in elderly individuals through gastric
infusion of the anesthetics lidocaine or benzocaine. In the future this study could
potentially contribute to improve food intake in elderly vulnerable of losing body weight.
Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the effect of intragastric administration of
lidocaine on food intake, satiety/satiation and gastrointestinal complaints.