title: Changes in behavior and in brain glucose metabolism in rats after nine weeks on a high fat diet: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A high-fat diet (HFD) is a well-known risk factor for cardio-cerebrovascular disease but the relationship between a HFD and depressive symptoms remains unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Compare changes in behavioral and measures of brain glucose metabolism in rats fed a HFD to those of rats fed a standard diet.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a study group (n=10) that received a high fat diet for 9 weeks or a control group (n=10) that received a standard diet for 9 weeks. At baseline and at the end of the 9-week trial assessments included body weight, serum lipids (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), the sucrose preference test, and the open field test. The rate of brain glucose metabolism in different brain regions (assessed using micro-positron emission tomography) at the end of the trial was also compared between the two groups of rats.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine weeks of a HFD in rats resulted in the expected increase in weight and changes in serum lipid levels, but it was also associated with a decreased preference for sucrose (which may be due to a loss of interest in pleasurable activities), increased weight-adjusted water intake, and a significant deactivation of the right thalamus and right striatum (based on decreased rates of glucose metabolism). In the HFD group the magnitude of the drop in the sucrose preference was strongly correlated to the magnitude of the deactivation of the right thalamus (r=0.78) and the right striatum (r=0.81).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings support hypotheses about the role of a HFD in the causal pathway for depressive symptoms. Further work is needed to clarify the underling mechanism, but it appears that the interaction between the content of the diet and the limbic system-striatum-thalamus circuit plays a role in both eating behavior and depressive symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China ; Department of Psychiatry, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yeqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Chunfeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Heqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Liwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: animal model; depression; glucose metabolism; high-fat diet; micro-PET
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