title: Preference for high-fat diet is developed by young Swiss CD1 mice after short-term feeding and is prevented by NMDA receptor antagonists.
abstract: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that is increasing at an alarming rate. One of its causes is the increased availability and consumption of diets rich in fat. In the present study, we investigated the effects of short-term consumption of a high fat diet (HFD) on dietary preferences in Swiss CD1 mice and its relation in time to specific metabolic effects. Mice that were weaned 21days postpartum and fed a chow diet for one week were afterward subjected to a diet preference test for 5days, exposed to both a regular diet (RD) and HFD. We found that mice did not show any preferences. In a second experiment, two groups of mice that were weaned 21days postpartum and subjected to a chow diet for one week were fed either RD or HFD for 18days, and a diet preference test was performed for 5days. After this short-term consumption of HFD, mice preferred HFD, while mice subjected to RD did not show any preference. Importantly, no differences in blood glucose levels were found between the groups prior to and after the experiments. The results support our hypothesis that the preference for HFD is not a spontaneous behavior in CD1 mice, but it can be observed after short-term consumption; additionally, this preference develops before metabolic effects appear. Finally, this preference for HFD could not be observed when the mice were i.p. injected daily with low doses of the NMDA receptor antagonists, ketamine, ifenprodil or MK-801 during the HFD feeding period. These data suggest that acquisition of dietary preference for HFD is a NMDA receptor-dependent learning process.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Hormonas y Receptores, sección Neurociencia Nutricional, Unidad de Nutrición Humana, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile.
authors.forename: Angie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buttigieg
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Hormonas y Receptores, sección Neurociencia Nutricional, Unidad de Nutrición Humana, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile.
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Neurobiología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH).
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología y Comportamiento, Escuela de Medicina, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH).
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sáez-Briones
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Psicología, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH); Escuela de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Chile.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burgos
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Hormonas y Receptores, sección Neurociencia Nutricional, Unidad de Nutrición Humana, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile. Electronic address: cmorgan@inta.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D007649:Ketamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010880:Piperidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D010880:Piperidines; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D007649:Ketamine; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate; C010739:ifenprodil
keywords: Dietary preference; Feeding behavior; HFD; High-fat diet; N-methyl-D-Aspartate; NMDA; Obesity; PBS; RD; high-fat diet; phosphate buffer saline; regular diet