Effects of postnatal overfeeding and enriched environment over the brain reward system evaluated by feeding behavior test

ROSSETTI, M. FLORENCIA; CANESINI, GUILLERMINA; CARRIO, JOSEFINA; SCHUMACHER, ROCIO; ACUTAIN, MARÍA FLORENCIA; STOKER, CORA; RAMOS, JORGE GUILLERMO; LAZZARINO, GISELA P.; FABRE, NICOLÁS; ANDREOLI, M. FLORENCIA

Córdoba

Congreso; 2019 Meeting of Argentine Society for Research in Neurosciences; 2019

SAN

Consumption based on the rewarding properties of foods is a central contributor to the current obesity epidemic. Postnatal overfeeding (POF) is a well-known model of early-life induced obesity, and enriched environment (EE) has been shown to reduce the risk of obesity. Our aim was to analyze the positive influence of EE on the behavior towards sucrose in a model of POF rats raised in small litters (SL, 4 pups/dam) and control rats raised in normal litters (NL, 10 pups/dam) exposed from weaning to EE or standard environment. In PND85, a sensory-specific satiety (SSS) test was carried out using 10% (w/v) sucrose and maltodextrin solutions. SSS represent the decrease in hedonic pleasantness of a food (sucrose) after it is eaten. During the familiarization session of the test, EE increased sucrose and maltodextrin intake in SL rats (p=0.001). This was also observed in the pre-exposure to these solutions prior to the test (p=0.002). In the SSS test session no differences were observed in the intake of the maltodextrin solution whether the animals were pre-exposed to it or not. However, SL-SE rats ingested more sucrose only when they were pre-exposed to it (p=0.007), and EE prevented this effect in SL-EE rats. These results indicate that POF affects the hedonic value of sucrose in a repeated exposure, and EE may prevent this alteration. This study evidences that nutrition and environment during development may impact upon motivated behaviors toward food.