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Cognitive Impairment and Metabolite Profile Alterations in the Hippocampus and Cortex of Male and Female Mice Exposed to a Fat and Sugar-Rich Diet are Normalized by Diet Reversal

Garcia-Serrano, Alba LU ; Mohr, Adélaïde A ; Philippe, Juliette LU ; Skoug, Cecilia LU ; Spégel, Peter LU and Duarte, Joao NM LU orcid (2022) In Aging and Disease 13(1). p.267-283
Abstract
Diabetes impacts on brain metabolism, structure and function. Alterations in brain metabolism have been observed in obesity and diabetes models induced by exposure to diets rich in saturated fat and/or sugar and have been linked to memory impairment. However, it remains to be determined whether brain dysfunction induced by obesogenic diets results from permanent brain alterations. We tested the hypothesis that an obesogenic diet (high-fat and high-sucrose diet; HFHSD) causes reversible changes in hippocampus and cortex metabolism and alterations in behavior. Mice were exposed to HFHSD for 24 weeks or for 16 weeks followed by 8 weeks of diet normalization. Development of the metabolic syndrome, changes in behavior, and brain metabolite... (More)
Diabetes impacts on brain metabolism, structure and function. Alterations in brain metabolism have been observed in obesity and diabetes models induced by exposure to diets rich in saturated fat and/or sugar and have been linked to memory impairment. However, it remains to be determined whether brain dysfunction induced by obesogenic diets results from permanent brain alterations. We tested the hypothesis that an obesogenic diet (high-fat and high-sucrose diet; HFHSD) causes reversible changes in hippocampus and cortex metabolism and alterations in behavior. Mice were exposed to HFHSD for 24 weeks or for 16 weeks followed by 8 weeks of diet normalization. Development of the metabolic syndrome, changes in behavior, and brain metabolite profiles by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) were assessed longitudinally. Control mice were fed an ingredient-matched low-fat and low-sugar diet. Mice fed the HFHSD developed obesity, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, with a more severe phenotype in male than female mice. Relative to controls, both male and female HFHSD-fed mice showed increased anxiety-like behavior, impaired memory in object recognition tasks, but preserved working spatial memory as evaluated by spontaneous alternation in a Y-maze. Alterations in the metabolite profiles were observed both in the hippocampus and cortex but were more distinct in the hippocampus. HFHSD-induced metabolic changes included altered levels of lactate, glutamate, GABA, glutathione, taurine, N-acetylaspartate, total creatine and total choline. Notably, HFHSD-induced metabolic syndrome, anxiety, memory impairment, and brain metabolic alterations recovered upon diet normalization for 8 weeks. In conclusion, cortical and hippocampal derangements induced by long-term HFHSD consumption are reversible rather than being the result of permanent tissue damage. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Aging and Disease
volume
13
issue
1
pages
17 pages
publisher
Buck Institute for Age Research
external identifiers
  • scopus:85124414644
  • pmid:35111373
ISSN
2152-5250
DOI
10.14336/AD.2021.0720
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
219fa0f9-4a3b-4ce0-8b1e-dab7fbfe5bc6
date added to LUP
2021-09-21 20:27:07
date last changed
2023-05-24 14:16:27
@article{219fa0f9-4a3b-4ce0-8b1e-dab7fbfe5bc6,
  abstract     = {{Diabetes impacts on brain metabolism, structure and function. Alterations in brain metabolism have been observed in obesity and diabetes models induced by exposure to diets rich in saturated fat and/or sugar and have been linked to memory impairment. However, it remains to be determined whether brain dysfunction induced by obesogenic diets results from permanent brain alterations. We tested the hypothesis that an obesogenic diet (high-fat and high-sucrose diet; HFHSD) causes reversible changes in hippocampus and cortex metabolism and alterations in behavior. Mice were exposed to HFHSD for 24 weeks or for 16 weeks followed by 8 weeks of diet normalization. Development of the metabolic syndrome, changes in behavior, and brain metabolite profiles by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) were assessed longitudinally. Control mice were fed an ingredient-matched low-fat and low-sugar diet. Mice fed the HFHSD developed obesity, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, with a more severe phenotype in male than female mice. Relative to controls, both male and female HFHSD-fed mice showed increased anxiety-like behavior, impaired memory in object recognition tasks, but preserved working spatial memory as evaluated by spontaneous alternation in a Y-maze. Alterations in the metabolite profiles were observed both in the hippocampus and cortex but were more distinct in the hippocampus. HFHSD-induced metabolic changes included altered levels of lactate, glutamate, GABA, glutathione, taurine, N-acetylaspartate, total creatine and total choline. Notably, HFHSD-induced metabolic syndrome, anxiety, memory impairment, and brain metabolic alterations recovered upon diet normalization for 8 weeks. In conclusion, cortical and hippocampal derangements induced by long-term HFHSD consumption are reversible rather than being the result of permanent tissue damage.}},
  author       = {{Garcia-Serrano, Alba and Mohr, Adélaïde A and Philippe, Juliette and Skoug, Cecilia and Spégel, Peter and Duarte, Joao NM}},
  issn         = {{2152-5250}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{267--283}},
  publisher    = {{Buck Institute for Age Research}},
  series       = {{Aging and Disease}},
  title        = {{Cognitive Impairment and Metabolite Profile Alterations in the Hippocampus and Cortex of Male and Female Mice Exposed to a Fat and Sugar-Rich Diet are Normalized by Diet Reversal}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.14336/AD.2021.0720}},
  doi          = {{10.14336/AD.2021.0720}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}