Sexual dimorphism modulates metabolic and cognitive alterations under HFD nutrition and chronic stress exposure in mice. Correlation between spatial memory impairment and BDNF mRNA expression in hippocampus and spleen

PROCHNIK ANDRÉS; BURGUEÑO ADRIANA; RUBINSTEIN ROXANA; MARCONE PAULA; BIANCHI SILVIA; GONZALEZ MURANO MARIA ROSA; GENARO ANA MARÍA; WALD MIRIAM RUTH

NEUROCHEMISTRY INTERNATIONAL

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2022 vol. 160

0197-0186

Aims: The accumulated evidence suggests that lifestyle - specifically dietary habits and stress exposure - plays a detrimental role in health. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the interplay of stress, diet, and sex in metabolic and cognitive alterations. Main methods: For this purpose, one-month-old C57Bl/6J mice were fed with a standard diet or high-fat diet (HFD). After eight weeks, one subgroup of mice from each respective diet was exposed to 20 weeks of chronic stress, whilst the others were left undisturbed. Key findings: After 28 weeks of HFD feeding, mice from both sexes were overweight, with an increase in caloric intake and abdominal and subcutaneous fat pads. Stress exposure induced a decrease in body weight, related to a decrease in caloric efficiency in both males and females. Results indicate that both sexes presented an altered glucose metabolism under HFD, stress, or both factors, being more pronounced in males. The lipid profile did not show detrimental changes. Memory testing suggests that males under HFD, stress, or both had poorer cognitive performance than females related to a decrease in hippocampal BDNF mRNA expression. Interestingly, these changes were observed in the spleen as well. Significance: These results suggest that the determination of BDNF mRNA expression in peripheral lymphocytes could be a good candidate as a biomarker of cognitive deficit in overweight individuals.