title: Chronic stress associated with hypercaloric diet changes the hippocampal BDNF levels in male Wistar rats.
abstract: Chronic stress, whether associated with obesity or not, leads to different neuroendocrine and psychological changes. Obesity or being overweight has become one of the most serious worldwide public health problems. Additionally, it is related to a substantial increase in daily energy intake, which results in substituting nutritionally adequate meals for snacks. This metabolic disorder can lead to morbidity, mortality, and reduced quality of life. On the other hand, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is widely expressed in all brain regions, particularly in the hypothalamus, where it has important effects on neuroprotection, synaptic plasticity, mammalian food intake-behavior, and energy metabolism. BDNF is involved in many activities modulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of obesity associated with chronic stress on the BDNF central levels of rats. Obesity was controlled by analyzing the animals' caloric intake and changes in body weight. As a stress parameter, we analyzed the relative adrenal gland weight. We found that exposure to chronic restraint stress during 12 weeks increases the adrenal gland weight, decreases the BDNF levels in the hippocampus and is associated with a decrease in the calorie and sucrose intake, characterizing anhedonia. These effects can be related stress, a phenomenon that induces depression-like behavior. On the other hand, the rats that received the hypercaloric diet had an increase in calorie intake and became obese, which was associated with a decrease in hypothalamus BDNF levels.
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences - Physiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Macedo
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil; Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rozisky
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil; Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil; Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil; Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laste
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nonose
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil; Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Biological Sciences - Physiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Neuro-Humoral Interaction Laboratory, Department of Physiology - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: M F M
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Caumo
authors.affiliation: Pain Pharmacology and Neuromodulation Laboratory: Animal Models, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences - Physiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil; Animal Experimentation Unit and Graduate Research Group, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil; Graduate Program in Medical Sciences - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil. Electronic address: 87605@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: I L S
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D059445:Anhedonia; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
keywords: Anhedonia; BDNF; Chronic stress; Hippocampus; Hypothalamus; Obesity