title: Perinatal undernutrition increases meal size and neuronal activation of the nucleus of the solitary tract in response to feeding stimulation in adult rats.
abstract: During the early periods of development, i.e., gestation and lactation, the influences of stimulus such as undernutrition can lead to several behavioural and morphofunctional damages to organs and systems in general, including pathways and structures that control energy balance and feeding behaviour. Although a large body of evidences have shown the effects of this stimulus on structures such as hypothalamus, only few studies have directed their attention to the long-term effects of undernutrition on the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of early undernutrition on the NTS and control of food intake in adulthood. Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups according to the diet offered to the dams during gestation and lactation: control group (C, diet containing 17% casein) or isocaloric low-protein group (LP, diet containing 8% casein). On 35 or 180 days, we evaluated the rats' body weight, food intake, behavioural satiety sequence and c-Fos protein expression in the NTS in response to food stimulus. Based on these assessments, it was found that perinatal undernutrition promoted an increase in food intake and the number of activated cells in rostral and, mainly, medial NTS in response to food stimulation in adulthood. These results indicated that the NTS is a structure particularly vulnerable to the influences of nutritional manipulation in the early stages of development with effects on food control in adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: ila_lira@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Lívia A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: ftlarissaalmeida@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Larissa C A
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: amandabiomedica10@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amanda A M
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: taisyferro@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Taisy C F
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Cavalcante
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: diogo.brasileiro.melo@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Diogo D C B
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: de Melo
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: jully_jesus@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Julliet A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil; Postgraduate Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: renatacampina82@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Renata C F
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Campina
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil; Postgraduate Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil; Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: sanlopesufpe@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: de Souza
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012528:Satiety Response / Q000502:physiology; D017552:Solitary Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
keywords: Feeding behaviour; Fos protein; Nucleus of the solitary tract; Perinatal undernutrition; Rats