Excessive sugar intake alters binding to dopamine and mu-opioid receptors in the brain.
Palatable food stimulates neural systems implicated in drug dependence; thus sugar might have effects like a drug of abuse. Rats were given 25% glucose solution with chow for 12 h followed by 12 h of food deprivation each day. They doubled their glucose intake in 10 days and developed a pattern of excessive intake in the first hour of daily access. After 30 days, receptor binding was compared to chow-fed controls. Dopamine D-1 receptor binding increased significantly in the accumbens core and shell. In contrast, D-2 binding decreased in the dorsal striatum. Binding to dopamine transporter increased in the midbrain. Opioid mu-1 receptor binding increased significantly in the cingulate cortex, hippocampus, locus coeruleus and accumbens shell. Thus, intermittent, excessive sugar intake sensitized D-1 and mu-1 receptors much like some drugs of abuse.
Colantuoni
C
C
Department of Psychology, Green Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Schwenker
J
J
McCarthy
J
J
Rada
P
P
Ladenheim
B
B
Cadet
J L
JL
Schwartz
G J
GJ
Moran
T H
TH
Hoebel
B G
BG
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu / Q000378:metabolism*
D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu; D005947:Glucose