title: Early life adversities or high fat diet intake reduce cognitive function and alter BDNF signaling in adult rats: Interplay of these factors changes these effects.
abstract: Environmental factors, like early exposure to stressors or high caloric diets, can alter the early programming of central nervous system, leading to long-term effects on cognitive function, increased vulnerability to cognitive decline and development of psychopathologies later in life. The interaction between these factors and their combined effects on brain structure and function are still not completely understood. In this study, we evaluated long-term effects of social isolation in the prepubertal period, with or without chronic high fat diet access, on memory and on neurochemical markers in the prefrontal cortex of rats. We observed that early social isolation led to impairment in short-term and working memory in adulthood, and to reductions of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity and the immunocontent of phospho-AKT, in prefrontal cortex. Chronic exposure to a high fat diet impaired short-term memory (object recognition), and decreased BDNF levels in that same brain area. Remarkably, the association of social isolation with chronic high fat diet rescued the memory impairment on the object recognition test, as well as the changes in BDNF levels, Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity, MAPK, AKT and phospho-AKT to levels similar to the control-chow group. In summary, these findings showed that a brief social isolation period and access to a high fat diet during a sensitive developmental period might cause memory deficits in adulthood. On the other hand, the interplay between isolation and high fat diet access caused a different brain programming, preventing some of the effects observed when these factors are separately applied.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Electronic address: danusa.arcego@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Danusa Mar
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Arcego
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde e Comportamento, Universidade Católica de Pelotas (UCPel), Pelotas, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krolow
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lampert
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Toniazzo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berlitz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lazzaretti
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: André Felipe
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Angela T S
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Wyse
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dalmaz
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases
keywords: BDNF; Early-life environment; High fat diet; Memory; Social isolation; Stress