Sex and age-dependent effects of a maternal junk food diet on the mu-opioid receptor in rat offspring

•A maternal junk food (JF) diet alters offspring mu-opioid receptor (MuR) expression.•It was unclear when these changes in MuR expression in the offspring first emerged.•No effect of a maternal JF diet on MuR was present on postnatal day 1 or 7.•Female JF offspring had reduced MuR expression on post...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioural brain research 2016-03, Vol.301, p.124-131
Main Authors: Gugusheff, Jessica R., Bae, Sung Eun, Rao, Alexandra, Clarke, Iain J., Poston, Lucilla, Taylor, Paul D., Coen, Clive W., Muhlhausler, Beverly S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Newborn
Autoradiography
Body Weight
Cell Count
Diet - adverse effects
Female
High-fat diet
In Situ Hybridization
Lactation
Male
Mu-opioid receptor
Nucleus Accumbens - cytology
Nucleus Accumbens - growth & development
Nucleus Accumbens - metabolism
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Programming
Rats, Wistar
Receptors, Opioid, mu - metabolism
Reward
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Sex Characteristics
Ventral Tegmental Area - cytology
Ventral Tegmental Area - growth & development
Ventral Tegmental Area - metabolism
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Summary:•A maternal junk food (JF) diet alters offspring mu-opioid receptor (MuR) expression.•It was unclear when these changes in MuR expression in the offspring first emerged.•No effect of a maternal JF diet on MuR was present on postnatal day 1 or 7.•Female JF offspring had reduced MuR expression on postnatal day 21 and 28.•The late suckling period maybe a time of increased susceptibility of MuR to JF diets. Perinatal junk food exposure increases the preference for palatable diets in juvenile and adult rat offspring. Previous studies have implicated reduced sensitivity of the opioid pathway in the programming of food preferences; however it is not known when during development these changes in opioid signalling first emerge. This study aimed to determine the impact of a maternal junk food (JF) diet on mu-opioid receptor (MuR) expression and ligand binding in two key regions of the reward pathway, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in rats during the early suckling (postnatal day (PND) 1 and 7) and late suckling/early post-weaning (PND 21 and 28) periods. Female rats were fed either a JF or a control diet for two weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. MuR expression in the VTA was significantly reduced in female JF offspring on PND 21 and 28 (by 32% and 57% respectively, P
ISSN:0166-4328
1872-7549
DOI:10.1016/j.bbr.2015.12.027