PROGRESSIVE EFFECTS OF CAFETERIA DIET ON THE EXPRESSION OF NEUROPEPTIDES IN HYPOTHALAMIC NUCLEI INVOLVED IN FOOD INTAKE CONTROL

G LAZZARINO; C. STOKER; R. SCHUMACHER; M.F. ANDREOLI; J.G. RAMOS

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunion Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

SAIC, SAIB, SAI, SAFE, SAH, SAP, SAB, SAFIS, SAA, SAB.

We aimed to evaluate the effects of cafeteria diet (CAF) on the expression of orexigenic (agouti-related peptide: AgRP, neuropeptide Y: NPY and Orexin-A: OX) and anorexigenic (pro-opiomelanocortin: POMC and cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript: CART) peptides over time in discrete hypothalamic nuclei. Female Wistar rats were fed chow or CAF from weaning and for 4, 11 or 20 weeks. After sacrifice, brains were removed and arcuate (ARC), ventromedial (VMN) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei and the lateral hypothalamus (LH) were dissected. mRNA expression of the aforementioned peptides and leptin receptor (ObRb) was analyzed by qPCR. Epigenetic studies using digestion with methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes and subsequent qPCR were performed. Serum leptin was assessed by RIA. Data was statistically analyzed by two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post-test. Differences were significant at p