| Abstract No.: | A-E1173 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | PROGRAMMING OF THE DOPAMINE SYSTEM BY EARLY EXPOSURE TO HIGH-FAT: A MICRODIALYSIS STUDY |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 1 Lindsay Naef*; 1 Luc Moquin; 1 Derek Lupinsky; 1 Alain Gratton; 1 Claire-Dominique Walker;
1 Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada
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| Content: | Human and animal studies have demonstrated that adverse nutritional environments during development predispose individuals to the development of metabolic disturbances in adulthood. The neural mechanisms involved in these effects include alterations within the hypothalamic areas involved in the homeostatic control of feeding behavior. However, the effects of early nutritional environment might extend to neuronal circuits involved in the hedonic and rewarding evaluation of food. Indeed, we have recently reported that adult rats exposed to increased fat via the maternal milk during early development show decreased locomotion in response to acute amphetamine administration and decreased behavioral sensitization to repeated amphetamine administration compared to control animals. These behavioral effects were accompanied by increased dopamine (DA) and tyrosine hydroxylase concentrations in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Objectives: To further characterize perinatal diet-induced changes in mesolimbic DA neurotransmission in the adult by directly measuring accumbens DA release in response to acute amphetamine administration Methods: Mothers were fed a high-fat (HF, 30% fat) or control (C, 5% fat) diet from gestation day 13 to postnatal day 22. Amphetamine (1.5mg / kg) -induced DA release in the NAc was assessed by microdialysis on postnatal day (PND) 90. Results: In agreement with our behavioral observations, preliminary data suggest that the offspring exposed to HF display decreased DA release in the NAc in response to amphetamine administration compared to C offspring. Conclusion: Since plasma and brain amphetamine concentrations did not differ between HF and C-exposed animals following peripheral administration of amphetamine, our data confirm the hypothesis that exposure to high-fat during a critical period of dopaminergic development is altering DA transmission within the NAc. Changes within the mesolimbic DA system could contribute to the development of obesity by altering an individual’s motivation to consume palatable, high-caloric foods. |
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