Gallbladder contractions in chickens, guinea pigs and mice following treatment with simmondsin or cholecystokinin.

The jojoba plant (Simmondsia chinensis) is a native oilseed shrub of the Sonoran desert. Feeding jojoba meal - a byproduct of the oil extraction - results in reduced food intake in rats, chickens, ewes and rodents. This inhibitory effect is due to the presence of a glycoside, simmondsin. Its satiating effect is either by a stimulation of the secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK) as a satiating factor or by acting as a CCK-agonist itself. In this study, the effect of CCK and simmondsin on gallbladder contraction in vivo and in vitro was tested using mice, guinea pigs and chickens as experimental models.