Short-term Cafeteria Diet Is Associated with Fat Mass Accumulation, Systemic and Amygdala Inflammation, and Anxiety-like Behavior in Adult Male Wistar Rats

is linked to metabolic, hormonal and biochemical alterations, and is also a risk factor for behavioral disorders. Evidence suggests that these disorders may be related to the consumption of hypercaloric diets, fat mass accumulation and changes in inflammation and redox status. Although much is known about the chronic effects of hypercaloric diets on mental health, few studies have evaluated the consequences of short-term exposure of these diets on behavior. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional, behavioral (anxiety-like), inflammatory and redox status parameters in adult male Wistar rats exposed to short-term cafeteria diet. Adult Wistar male rats (90 days-old; n = 12/group) received, during 14 days, the diets: Control- standard diet; Simple Cafeteria Diet (SCD)- homogeneous cafeteria diet. Varied Cafeteria Diet (VCD)- cafeteria diet with rotation and variation. Nutritional analyzes and tests for anxiety-like behaviors were performed, in addition to inflammatory and redox status measurements in blood and amygdala. The SCD group showed higher fat energy intake, while the VCD group consumed more energy from carbohydrates. SCD and VCD showed higher fat mass accumulation, in addition to higher levels of TNFa, INFc, TBARS and FRAP in the blood. Also, SCD and VCD groups reported high levels of TNFa in the amygdala. Regarding behavioral evaluations, SCD and VCD groups showed anxiogen-esis in the elevated plus maze, light-dark box, and open field tests. Therefore, the two cafeteria diets induced obe-sity and systemic inflammation, which in turn, resulted in an increase in amygdala TNFa levels and anxiety-like behaviors in Wistar rats.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hypercaloric diets on behavior, inflammation, and redox status. The results showed that long-term hypercaloric diets lead to obesity and systemic inflammation, resulting in increased levels of amygdala TNFa and anxiety-like behaviors.