Compulsive-like eating of high-fat high-sugar food is associated with ‘addiction-like’ glutamatergic dysfunction in obesity prone rats

D Sketriene; D Battista; L Lalert; N Kraiwattanapirom; HN Thai; T Leeboonngam; LA Knackstedt; J Nithianantharajah; P Sumithran; AJ Lawrence; RM Brown

Journal article

Compulsive-like eating of high-fat high-sugar food is associated with ‘addiction-like’ glutamatergic dysfunction in obesity prone rats

D Sketriene, D Battista, L Lalert, N Kraiwattanapirom, HN Thai, T Leeboonngam, LA Knackstedt, J Nithianantharajah, P Sumithran, AJ Lawrence, RM Brown

Addiction Biology | Published : 2022

DOI: 10.1111/adb.13206

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Abstract

Chronic overeating is a core feature of diet-induced obesity. There is increasing evidence that in vulnerable individuals, such overeating could become compulsive, resembling an addictive disorder. The transition to compulsive substance use has been linked with changes at glutamatergic synapses in the nucleus accumbens. In this study, we investigated a potential link between such glutamatergic dysregulation and compulsive-like eating using a rat model of diet-induced obesity. A conditioned suppression task demonstrated that diet-induced obese rats display eating despite negative consequences, as their consumption was insensitive to an aversive cue. Moreover, nucleus accumbens expression of G..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Diana Sketriene Author

Jess Nithianantharajah Author

Priya Sumithran Author

Andrew Lawrence Author

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Grants

Awarded by University of Melbourne

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank David Pow (RMIT University, Australia) via Tony Hannan (Florey) for the gift of the GLT1 antibody. This research was funded by National Health and Medical Research Council project grant 1108092. RMB is supported by RMB is supported by Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA (DE190101244). PS is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant (1178482), and AJL is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship (1116930). We acknowledge the Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Scheme. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.