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Prefrontal cortex inflammation and liver pathologies accompany cognitive and motor deficits following Western diet consumption in non-obese female mice (animal study)
This 2020 mouse study investigated the effect of the Western Diet (WD) on motor coordination, novelty recognition, affective behavior, and also molecular and cellular endpoints in brain and peripheral tissues. The female C57BL/6 J mice were checked for glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and liver steatosis (increased build-up of fat in the liver) after being fed the WD for 3 weeks. They were also monitored for changes in motor coordination, object recognition, and despair behavior in the swim test, blood measurements for lipids and liver injury markers, and also brain checks such as serotonin transporter (SERT) expression, density of Iba1-positive cells, and concentration of malondialdehyde. The mice exhibited impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance, a loss of motor coordination, deficits in novel object exploration and recognition, increased helplessness, and dyslipidemia, as well as signs of fatty liver disease and increased liver injury markers. In addition, the researchers found decreased SERT expression, elevated numbers of microglia cells and malondialdehyde levels in the prefrontal cortex. This led Veniaminova et al. (2020) to state that the consumption of a WD not only induces behavior reminiscent of ADHD and ASD, like impairment of impulsivity and sociability, but that the WD might exacerbate motor dysfunction also known to be associated with adult ADHD and ASD. [NPID: cognition, WD, Western-style diet, motor coordination, novelty recognition, affective behavior, object recognition, fatty liver disease, ADHD, ASD, impulsivity, sociability]
Year: 2020
