Association of high-fat diet with neuroinflammation, anxiety-like defensive behavioral responses, and altered thermoregulatory responses in male rats (animal study)

While the previous study conducted by Noronha et al. reported the obesity-inducing potential of high-fat diets in rats (with elevated anxiety-related defensive behaviors and reactivity to stress), this present study published in 2019 induced obesity in rats and assessed their anxiety-related defensive behavioral responses. Also, their thermoregulatory responses to stress were tested through an open field assessment. Nine weeks of the fat-enriched diet induced obesity in the rats and increased their anxiety-related defensive behavioral responses and proinflammatory cytokine levels in several regions of their brain. Moreover, the rats’ tail skin temperature rose from the beginning and throughout the open field test. These results support the hypothesis that the high-fat diet induces neuroinflammation, heightens reactivity to stress, enhances anxiety-like defensive behavioral responses, and modifies excitability of brain nuclei that regulate neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavioral responses to stressful stimuli. [NPIDs: insomnia, sleep, sleep disorders, obesity, stress, reactivity, anxiety, fat, neuroinflammation, behavior, neuroendocrine response]

Year: 2019

Reference: Noronha, S., Lima, P. M., Campos, G., Chírico, M., Abreu, A. R., Figueiredo, A. B., Silva, F., Chianca, D. A., Jr, Lowry, C. A., & De Menezes, R. (2019). Association of high-fat diet with neuroinflammation, anxiety-like defensive behavioral responses, and altered thermoregulatory responses in male rats. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 80, 500–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2019.04.030