Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prenatal Programming of the Mesolimbic Reward Pathway and Food Preferences

  • Protocol
Prenatal and Postnatal Determinants of Development

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 109))

  • 1210 Accesses

Abstract

The drive to consume palatable foods, high in fat and sugar, goes beyond the need to satisfy hunger and has a strong hedonic component. Studies in rodent models have demonstrated that the preference for these foods can be programmed before birth, and that feeding dams on cafeteria diets during pregnancy and lactation is associated with an increased preference for palatable foods in the offspring after weaning. More recently, attention has turned towards elucidating the biological mechanisms which drive these effects, with studies to date focussing on the impact of maternal cafeteria diets on the development of the mesolimbic reward pathway in the offspring. This chapter discusses the methods we have used to study the impact of maternal “junk food” diets during pregnancy and lactation on food preferences and gene expression of key components of the opioid and dopamine signalling systems in two key regions of the mesolimbic reward pathway in the offspring.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Chen L, Magliano DJ, Zimmet PZ (2011) The worldwide epidemiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus-present and future perspectives. Nat Rev Endocrinol 8:228–236

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Putnam J, Allshouse J, Kantor LS (2002) U.S. Per capita food supply trends: more calories, refined carbohydrates, and fats. Food Rev 25:2

    Google Scholar 

  3. Adinoff B (2004) Neurobiologic processes in drug reward and addiction. Harv Rev Psychiatry 12:305–320

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Saper CB, Chou TC, Elmquist JK (2002) The need to feed: homeostatic and hedonic control of eating. Neuron 36:199–211

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Zheng H et al (2009) Appetite control and energy balance regulation in the modern world: reward-driven brain overrides repletion signals. Int J Obes (Lond) 33:S8–S13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Berridge KC (1996) Food reward: brain substrates of wanting and liking. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 20:1–25

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Chang GQ et al (2008) Maternal high-fat diet and fetal programming: increased proliferation of hypothalamic peptide-producing neurons that increase risk for overeating and obesity. J Neurosci 28:12107–12119

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kirk SL et al (2009) Maternal obesity induced by diet in rats permanently influences central processes regulating food intake in offspring. PLoS One 4:e5870

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bayol SA, Farrington SJ, Stickland NC (2007) A maternal ‘junk food’ diet in pregnancy and lactation promotes an exacerbated taste for ‘junk food’ and a greater propensity for obesity in rat offspring. Br J Nutr 98:843–851

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ong ZY, Muhlhausler BS (2011) Maternal “junk-food” feeding of rat dams alters food choices and development of the mesolimbic reward pathway in the offspring. FASEB J 25:2167–2179

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Teegarden SL, Scotta AN, Bale TL (2009) Early life exposure to a high fat diet promotes long-term changes in dietary preferences and central reward signaling. Neuroscience 162:924–932

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Vucetic Z et al (2010) Maternal high-fat diet alters methylation and gene expression of dopamine and opioid-related genes. Endocrinology 151:4756–4764

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gugusheff JR, Ong ZY, Muhlhausler BS (2013) A maternal “junk-food” diet reduces sensitivity to the opioid antagonist naloxone in offspring postweaning. FASEB J 27:1275–1284

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Bayol SA et al (2008) Offspring from mothers fed a ‘junk food’ diet in pregnancy and lactation exhibit exacerbated adiposity that is more pronounced in females. J Physiol 586:3219–3230

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Wright TM et al (2011) Exposure to maternal consumption of cafeteria diet during the lactation period programmes feeding behaviour in the rat. Int J Dev Neurosci 29:785–793

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. NHMRC (2013) Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, 8th edition. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Canberra, ACT

    Google Scholar 

  17. Sampey BP et al (2011) Cafeteria diet is a robust model of human metabolic syndrome with liver and adipose inflammation: comparison to high-fat diet. Obesity 19:1109–1117

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. McDowell J, Kitchen I (1987) Development of opioid systems: peptides, receptors and pharmacology. Brain Res 434:397–421

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Antonopoulosa J et al (2002) Postnatal development of the dopaminergic system of the striatum in the rat. Neuroscience 110:245–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Sherwood NM, Timiras PS (1970) A stereotaxic atlas of the developing rat brain. University of California Press, Berkley, CA

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ng S-F et al (2010) Chronic high-fat diet in fathers programs [bgr]-cell dysfunction in female rat offspring. Nature 467:963–966

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Plagemann A et al (1999) Increased number of galanin-neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus of neonatally overfed weanling rats. Brain Res 818:160–163

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Gugusheff JR, Ong ZY, Muhlhausler BS (2014) Naloxone treatment alters gene expression in the mesolimbic reward system in ‘junk food’ exposed offspring in a sex-specific manner but does not affect food preferences in adulthood. Physiol Behav 133:14–21

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Ong ZY, Muhlhausler BS (2013) Consuming a low-fat diet from weaning to adulthood reverses the programming of food preferences in male, but not female, offspring of ‘junk food’-fed rat dams. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 210:127–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bell RL et al (2006) Protein expression changes in the nucleus accumbens and amygdala of inbred alcohol-preferring rats given either continuous or scheduled access to ethanol. Alcohol 40:3–17

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Paxinos G, Watson C (2012) The rat brain in stereotaxic coordinates, 7th edn. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, CA

    Google Scholar 

  27. Bouret SG, Draper SJ, Simerly RB (2004) Trophic action of leptin on hypothalamic neurons that regulate feeding. Science 304:108–110

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Bouret SG, Draper SJ, Simerly RB (2004) Formation of projection pathways from the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus to hypothalamic regions implicated in the neural control of feeding behavior in mice. J Neurosci 24:2797–2805

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Olszewski PK, Levine AS (2007) Central opioids and consumption of sweet tastants: when reward outweighs homeostasis. Physiol Behav 91:506–512

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhang M, Gosnell BA, Kelley AE (1998) Intake of high-fat food is selectively enhanced by muopioid receptor stimulation within the nucleus accumbens. J Pharm Exp Ther 285:908–914

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Marks-Kaufman R, Kanarek RB (1981) Modifications of nutrient selection induced by naloxone in rats. Psychopharmacology 74:321–324

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Quinn R (2005) Comparing rat’s to human’s age: how old is my rat in people years? Nutrition 21:775–777

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FOODplus Research Centre, School of Agriculture Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5064, Australia

    Beverly S. Muhlhausler & Jessica Gugusheff

  2. Women’s and Children’s Health Research Centre, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, King William Road, North Adelaide, SA, 5006, Australia

    Beverly S. Muhlhausler

  3. Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia

    Beverly S. Muhlhausler

Authors
  1. Beverly S. Muhlhausler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica Gugusheff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beverly S. Muhlhausler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash Medical Centre, The Ritchie Centre, Melbourne, Australia

    David W. Walker

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Muhlhausler, B.S., Gugusheff, J. (2016). Prenatal Programming of the Mesolimbic Reward Pathway and Food Preferences. In: Walker, D. (eds) Prenatal and Postnatal Determinants of Development. Neuromethods, vol 109. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3014-2_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3014-2_8

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3013-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3014-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation