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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Obesity is a pandemic caused by many factors, including a chronic excess in hypercaloric and high-palatable food intake. In addition, the global prevalence of obesity has increased in all age categories, such as children, adolescents, and adults. However, at the neurobiological level, how neural circuits regulate the hedonic consumption of food intake and how the reward circuit is modified under hypercaloric diet consumption are still being unraveled. We aimed to determine the molecular and functional changes of dopaminergic and glutamatergic modulation of nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in male rats exposed to chronic consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a chow diet or HFD from postnatal day (PND) 21 to 62, increasing obesity markers. In addition, in HFD rats, the frequency but not amplitude of the spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current is increased in NAcc medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Moreover, only MSNs expressing dopamine (DA) receptor type 2 (D2) increase the amplitude and glutamate release in response to amphetamine, downregulating the indirect pathway. Furthermore, NAcc gene expression of inflammasome components is increased by chronic exposure to HFD. At the neurochemical level, DOPAC content and tonic dopamine (DA) release are reduced in NAcc, while phasic DA release is increased in HFD-fed rats. In conclusion, our model of childhood and adolescent obesity functionally affects the NAcc, a brain nucleus involved in the hedonic control of feeding, which might trigger addictive-like behaviors for obesogenic foods and, through positive feedback, maintain the obese phenotype.

Details

Title
Chronic Exposure to High Fat Diet Affects the Synaptic Transmission That Regulates the Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens of Adolescent Male Rats
Author
Plaza-Briceño, Wladimir 1 ; Velásquez, Victoria B 1 ; Silva-Olivares, Francisco 2 ; Ceballo, Karina 1 ; Céspedes, Ricardo 1 ; Jorquera, Gonzalo 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Cruz, Gonzalo 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Martínez-Pinto, Jonathan 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bonansco, Christian 3 ; Sotomayor-Zárate, Ramón 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Centro de Neurobiología y Fisiopatología Integrativa (CENFI), Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2360102, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Mención Neurociencias, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2360102, Chile 
 Centro de Neurobiología y Fisiopatología Integrativa (CENFI), Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2360102, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Mención Neurociencias, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2360102, Chile; Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Agronomía, Universidad de las Américas, Viña del Mar 2520000, Chile 
 Centro de Neurobiología y Fisiopatología Integrativa (CENFI), Instituto de Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2360102, Chile 
First page
4703
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
16616596
e-ISSN
14220067
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2785222677
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.