The goal of this study is to identify reward-related distributed brain networks by delineating a reliable immunohistological technique using cellular c-fos activation to measure simultaneous changes in dopamine pathways and terminal sites after novel ingestion of fat and sugar in rats.
This study uses cellular c-fos activation to assess effects of novel ingestion of fat and sugar on brain dopamine (DA) pathways in rats. Intakes of sugars and fats are mediated by their innate attractions as well as learned preferences. Brain dopamine, especially meso-limbic and meso-cortical projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), has been implicated in both of these unlearned and learned responses. The concept of distributed brain networks, wherein several sites and transmitter/peptide systems interact, has been proposed to mediate palatable food intake, but there is limited evidence empirically demonstrating such actions. Thus, sugar intake elicits DA release and increases c-fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) from individual VTA DA projection zones including the nucleus accumbens (NAC), amygdala (AMY) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as well as the dorsal striatum. Further, central administration of selective DA receptor antagonists into these sites differentially reduce acquisition and expression of conditioned flavor preferences elicited by sugars or fats. One approach by which to determine whether these sites interacted as a distributed brain network in response to sugar or fat intake would be to simultaneous evaluate whether the VTA and its major mesotelencephalic DA projection zones (prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC, core and shell of the NAc, basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY) as well as the dorsal striatum would display coordinated and simultaneous FLI activation after oral, unconditioned intake of corn oil (3.5%), glucose (8%), fructose (8%) and saccharin (0.2%) solutions. This approach is a successful first step in identifying the feasibility of using cellular c-fos activation simultaneously across relevant brain sites to study reward-related learning in ingestion of palatable food in rodents.
Brain dopamine (DA) has been implicated in central responses to intake of palatable sugars through proposed hedonic1,2, effort-related3 and habit-based4,5 mechanisms of action. The primary DA pathway implicated in these effects originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and projects to the nucleus accumbens (NAC) core and shell, the basolateral and central-cortico-medial amygdala (AMY), and the prelimbic and infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) (see reviews6,7). The VTA has been implicated in sucrose intake8,9, and DA release is observed following sugar intake in the NAC10-15, AMY16,17 and mPFC18-20. Fat intake also stimulates DA NAC release21, and another DA-rich projection zone to the dorsal striatum (caudate-putamen) has been also associated with DA-mediated feeding22,23. Kelley24-27 proposed that these multiple projection zones of this DA-mediated system formed an integrated and interactive distributed brain network through extensive and intimate interconnections28-34.
In addition to the ability of DA D1 and D2 receptor antagonists to reduce intake of sugars35-37 and fats38-40, DA signaling has also been implicated in mediating the ability of sugars and fats to produce conditioned flavor preferences (CFP)41-46. Microinjections of a DA D1 receptor antagonist into the NAC, AMY or mPFC47-49 eliminate acquisition of CFP elicited by intragastric glucose. Whereas microinjections of either DA D1 or D2 receptor antagonists into the mPFC eliminates acquisition of fructose-CFP50, the acquisition and expression of fructose-CFP are differentially blocked by DA antagonists in the NAC and AMY51,52.
The c-fos technique53,54 has been employed to investigate neural activation induced by palatable intake and neural activation. The term "c-fos activation" will be used throughout the manuscript, and is operationally defined by increased transcription of c-Fos during neuronal depolarization. Sucrose intake increased fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) in the central AMY nucleus, the VTA as well as the shell, but not core, of the NAC55-57. Whereas sucrose intake in sham-feeding rats significantly increased FLI in the AMY and the NAC, but not the VTA58, intragastric sucrose or glucose infusions significantly increased FLI in the NAC and central and basolateral nuclei of the AMY59,60. Repeated addition of sucrose to scheduled chow access increased FLI in the mPFC as well as the NAC shell and core61. A sucrose concentration downshift paradigm revealed that the greatest FLI increases occurred in the basolateral AMY and NAC, but not the VTA62. Following conditioning, extinction of sugar-related natural reward behaviors increased FLI in the basolateral AMY and the NAC63. Moreover, pairing sugar availability to a tone resulted in the tone subsequently increasing FLI levels in the basolateral AMY64. High-fat intake also increased FLI in NAC and mPFC sites65-67.
Most of the previously cited studies examined sugar and fat effects on c-fos activation in single sites that do not provide information about identification of reward-related distributed brain networks24-27. Further, many of the studies also did not delineate the relative contributions of sub-areas of the NAC (core and shell), AMY (basolateral and central-cortico-medial) and mPFC (prelimbic and infralimbic) that could potentially be examined by the advantage of excellent spatial, single-cell resolution in c-Fos mapping68. Our laboratory69 recently used c-fos activation and simultaneously measured alterations in the VTA DA pathway and its projection zones (NAC, AMY and mPFC) after novel ingestion of fats and sugars in rats. The present study describes the procedural and methodological steps to simultaneously analyze whether acute exposure to six different solutions (corn oil, glucose, fructose, saccharin, water and a fat emulsion control) would differentially activate FLI in sub-areas of the NAC, AMY, mPFC as well as the dorsal striatum. This simultaneous detection of differences allowed confirmation of significant effects on FLI in each site and determination as to whether changes in one particular site correlated with changes in related sites, thereby providing support for a distributed brain network24-27. These procedures tested whether the VTA, the prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC, the core and shell of the NAC, and the basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY) as well as the dorsal striatum would display coordinated and simultaneous FLI activation after oral, unconditioned intake of glucose (8%), fructose (8%), corn oil (3.5%) and saccharin (0.2%) solutions.
These experimental protocols have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee certifying that all subjects and procedures are in compliance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
1. Subjects
2. Testing Apparatus and Intake Procedures
3. Tissue Preparation
4. c-fos Procedures (Adapted from 71)
5. Determination of c-fos Immunoreactive Counts
Figure 1. Representative Section of the Nucleus Accumbens (NAC) Displaying Regions of Interest Outlined by the Grid by which c-fos Counts are Made. The NAC shell is found medially and ventrally to the NAC core. The NAC core encircles the anterior commissure (Anterior Comm.). The ventral extent of the lateral ventricle (Lateral Vent.) is visible. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
6. Statistics
All representative results described below have been published previously69, and are re-presented here to support "proof of concept" in indicating the effectiveness of the technique.
Solution Intakes
Significant differences in baseline saccharin intakes were observed over the first four days for all animals (F(3,108) = 57.27, p < 0.001) with intakes (Day 1: 1.3 (± 0.2) ml; Day 2: 3.9 (± 0.4) ml; Day 3: 5.9 (± 0.6) ml; Day 4: 7.1 (± 0.6) ml) significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) and progressively increasing. Fructose and glucose intake, but not corn oil or saccharin intake on Day 5 significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased relative to Day 4 saccharin intake (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) with fructose (9.6 (± 0.4) ml) and glucose (9.4 (± 0.6) ml) significantly higher than saccharin intake. Further, corn oil intake (7.4 (± 0.6) ml) was significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) higher than xanthan gum intake.
These results raised the possibility that solution intake per se might account for any observed c-fos activation in any of the sites. To examine this, Bonferroni r correlations were performed in which intake of the five solutions was related to c-fos activation in each of the six sites. Significant correlations failed to be observed between solution intake and c-fos activation in the core (r(29) = 0.186), shell (r(29) = 0.029) or total (r(29) = 0.10) NAc, the prelimbic (r(29) = 0.23), infralimbic (r(29) = 0.30) or total (r(29) = 0.14) mPFC, the VTA (r(29) = 0.10), the dorsal striatum (r(29) = 0.14) or the basolateral (r(29) = 0.47), the centro-cortico-medial (r(29) = 0.48) or total (r(29) = 0.409) AMY. Given the higher correlation between intake and AMY c-fos activation, further correlations were performed for each individual solution. Significant (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) relationships failed to be observed between intake and AMY FLI for fructose (basolateral (r = 0.15), centro-cortico-medial (r = 0.13), total (r = 0.13)), glucose (basolateral (r = 0.17), centro-cortico-medial (r = 0.17), total r = 0.13)),saccharin (basolateral (r = 0.42), centro-cortico-medial (r = 0.42), total (r = 0.42)) or corn oil (basolateral (r = 0.54), centro-cortico-medial (r = 0.59), total (r = 0.64)). A significant (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) negative correlation was observed between xanthan gum intake and total AMY FLI(r = 0.94).
mPFC c-Fos Activation
Corn oil significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased total (Figure 2A), infralimbic (Figure 2B) and prelimbic (Figure 2C) mPFC c-Fos counts relative to water (*) or the xanthan gum control (#). Fructose significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased c-Fos counts in the infralimbic mPFC relative to water (*) or saccharin (+) (Figure 2B), but not total or prelimbic mPFC counts. In contrast, glucose or saccharin failed to alter total, perilimbic or infralimbic mPFC c-Fos counts. Figure 3 displays representative mPFC sections of animals showing increased corn oil-induced FLI relative to water.
Figure 2. Fat or Sugar Intake Differentially Increases c-fos Activation in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC). Changes in c-fos activation (mean ± S.E.M.) are noted in the entire mPFC (Panel A), the infralimbic mPFC area (Panel B), and the prelimbic mPFC area (Panel C) following consumption (1 hr) of water, saccharin (0.2%), xanthan gum (control for corn oil), glucose (8%), fructose (8%) or corn oil (3.5%). (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3. Actual mPFC c-fos Activation Following Fats and Sugars. C-fos activation was observed in animals exposed to intake of corn oil (Panels A (4-fold magnification) and C (10-fold magnification)) that was significantly greater than that of intake of water (Panels B (4-fold magnification) and D (10-fold magnification)). Representation of the delineated sub-areas of the Prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) mPFC are diagramed in Panels A (corn oil) and C (water) as are the part of those panels (A and C) magnified to 10-fold magnification in the corresponding panels (B and D). Arrows in Panels C and D indicate representative c-fos positive cells. All scale bars are 100 µm. (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
AMY c-Fos Activation
Corn oil significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased total AMY (Figure 4A), basolateral (Figure 4B) and central-cortico-medial (Figure 4C) sub-area AMY c-Fos counts relative to water (*) or the xanthan gum control (#). Glucose also significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased total (Figure 4A), basolateral (Figure 4B) and central-cortico-medial (Figure 4C) sub-area AMY c-Fos counts relative to water (*) or saccharin (+).Glucose and fructose significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased AMY FLI relative to saccharin or water. Fructose significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased total (Figure 4A) and central-cortico-medial sub-area (Figure 4C) of the AMY c-Fos counts relative to water (*) or saccharin (+), but not in the basolateral AMY sub-area. Saccharin failed to alter total, basolateral or central-cortico-medial AMY c-Fos counts relative to water. Detailed analyses of individual nuclei within the AMY revealed that the significant changes noted in the basolateral area of the AMY were also noted in the individual basolateral and lateral AMY nuclei. The significant changes noted in the central-cortico-medial area of the AMY were also noted in the individual central, cortical and medial AMY nuclei. Figure 5 displays representative AMY sections of animals showing increased corn oil-, glucose-, and fructose-induced FLI relative to water. (Previously published69.)
Figure 4. Fat or Sugar Intake Differentially Increases c-fos Activation in the Amygdala (AMY). Changes in c-fos activation (mean ± S.E.M.) are noted in the entire AMY (Panel A), the basolateral AMY area (Panel B), and the central-cortico-medial AMY area (Panel C) following consumption (1 hr) of water, saccharin, xanthan gum, glucose, fructose or corn oil. The significant changes noted in the basolateral area of the AMY were also noted in the individual basolateral and lateral AMY nuclei. The significant changes noted in the central-cortico-medial area of the AMY were also noted in the individual central, cortical and medial AMY nuclei. (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 5. Actual AMY c-fos Activation Following Fats and Sugars. C-fos activation was observed in animals exposed to intakes of corn oil (Panels A (4-fold magnification), D (10-fold magnification) and G (60-fold magnification)), glucose (Panels B (4-fold magnification) and E (10-fold magnification)), and fructose (Panels C (4-fold magnification) and F (10-fold)) that were significantly greater than that of intake of water (Panels H (4-fold magnification) and I (10-fold magnification)). Representation of the delineated sub-areas of the central-cortico-medial (CMC) and the basolateral (BLA) AMY are diagramed in Panels A (corn oil), B (glucose), C (fructose) and H (water) as are the part of those panels (A, B, C and H) magnified to10-fold magnification in the corresponding panels (D, E, F and I). The delineated sub-area in Panel D (corn oil, 10-fold magnification) is magnified to 60-fold magnification in Panel D. Arrows in Panels D, E, F, G and I indicate representative c-fos positive cells. All scale bars are 100 µm, except for Panel G (50 µm). (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
NAC c-Fos Activation
Corn oil significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased total (Figure 6A) and core (Figure 6B) NAc c-Fos counts relative to water (*), but not the NAc shell (Figure 6C). Glucose significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased c-Fos counts in the NAc core (Figure 6B), but not in the total NAc or the NAc shell relative to saccharin (+) or water (*). In contrast, fructose and saccharin failed to differ from water in eliciting c-Fos activation in the NAc core and/or shell. Figure 7 displays representative sections in the NAc core of animals showing increased corn oil- or glucose-induced FLI relative to water.
Figure 6. Fat or Sugar Intake Differentially Increases c-fos Activation in the NAC. Changes in c-fos activation (mean ± S.E.M.) in the entire NAC (Panel A), the NAC core (Panel B), and the NAC shell (Panel C) following consumption (1 hr) of water, saccharin, xanthan gum, glucose, fructose or corn oil. (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 7. Actual NAC Core, but not NAC Shell c-fos Activation Following Fats and Sugars. C-fos activation was observed in animals exposed to intakes of corn oil (Panels A (4-fold magnification), D (10-fold magnification) and G (60-fold magnification)) and glucose (Panels B (4-fold magnification) and E (10-fold magnification)) that were significantly greater than that of intake of water (Panels C (4-fold magnification) and F (10-fold magnification)). Representation of the delineated sub-areas of the NAc core and the NAc shell are diagramed in Panels A (corn oil), B (glucose) and C (water) as are the part of those panels (A, B, C and H) magnified to10-fold magnification in the corresponding panels (D, E and F). The delineated sub-area in Panel D (corn oil, 10-fold magnification) is magnified to 60-fold magnification in Panel G. Arrows in Panels D, E, F and G indicate representative c-fos positive cells. All scale bars are 100 µm. (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Dorsal Striatal c-Fos Activation
Corn oil significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased c-Fos counts in the dorsal striatum relative to water (*) or the xanthan gum (#) (Figure 8A). Glucose or fructose significantly (p < 0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased dorsal striatal FLI relative to saccharin (+) (Figure 8A). In contrast, saccharin failed to differ from water in eliciting dorsal striatal c-Fos activation. Figure 9 displays representative dorsal striatal sections of animals showing increased corn oil-, glucose- or fructose-induced FLI relative to water.
Figure 8. Fat or Sugar Intake Differentially Increases c-fos Activation in the Dorsal Striatum and Ventral Tegmental Area. Dorsal atriatal (Panel A) and ventral tegmental area (Panel B) alterations were noted for c-fos activation (mean ±S.E.M.) following consumption (1 hr) of water, saccharin, xanthan gum, glucose, fructose or corn oil. (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 9. Actual Dorsal Striatal c-fos Activation Following Fats and Sugars. C-fos activation was observed in animals exposed to intakes of corn oil (Panels A (4-fold magnification), D (10-fold magnification) and G (60-fold magnification)), glucose (Panels B (4-fold magnification) and E (10-fold magnification)), fructose (Panels C (4-fold magnification) and F (10-fold magnification)) that were significantly greater than that of intake of water (Panels H (4-fold magnification) and I (10-fold magnification)). Delineated sub-areas of the dorsal striatum in Panels A (corn oil), B (glucose), C (fructose) and H (water) are indicated that magnified to10-fold magnification in the corresponding panels (D, E, F and I). The delineated sub-area in Panel D (corn oil, 10-fold magnification) is magnified to 60-fold magnification in Panel G. Arrows in Panels D, E, F and G indicate representative c-fos positive cells. All scale bars are 100 µm, except for Panel G (50 µm). (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
VTA c-Fos Activation
Corn oil significantly (p<0.05, Tukey HSD test) increased c-Fos counts in TH+ VTA cells relative to the xanthan gum control (#) (Figure 8B). In contrast, glucose, fructose or saccharin failed to alter c-Fos counts in the VTA relative to water. Figure 10 displays representative TH+ and TH- and c-Fos-activated VTA cells of animals showing increased corn oil-induced FLI relative to water.
Figure 10. Actual Ventral Tegmental Area c-fos Activation Following Fats and Sugars. VTA c-fos activation was observed in animals exposed to corn oil (Panels A (4-fold) and C (10-fold)) and water (Panels B (4-fold) and D (10-fold)). Black arrows indicate representative double-labeled TH/c-fos positive cells, while gray arrows indicate representative c-fos only cells. All scale bars are 100 µm. (Previously published69.) Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Relationships of c-Fos Activation Among Sites and Solutions
The pattern of c-Fos counts in animals exposed to corn oil revealed significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between the NAc core and either the NAc shell (r = 0.971) or entire mPFC (r = 0.670), between the prelimbic mPFC and either the infralimbic mPFC (r = 0.940) or dorsal striatum (r = 0.849), between the infralimbic mPFC and dorsal striatum (r = 0.749), between the basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY (r = 0.999), and between the dorsal striatum and the VTA (r = 0.723). In contrast, the pattern of c-Fos counts in animals exposed to corn oil revealed significant (p < 0.05) negative correlations between the basolateral AMY and either the NAc core (r = -0.712) or shell (r = -0.708), and between the central-cortico-medial AMY and either the NAc core (r = -0.712) or shell (r = -0.710).The pattern of c-Fos counts in animals exposed to glucose revealed significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between the prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC (r = 0.930), between the dorsal striatum and either the VTA (r = 0.821), basolateral (r = 0.910) or central-cortico-medial (r = 0.911) AMY, and between the basolateral and central-cortico-medial (r = 0.999) AMY. The pattern of c-Fos counts in animals exposed to fructose revealed significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between the NAc core and either the NAc shell (r = 0.969) or prelimbic mPFC (r = 0.740),between the NAc shell and the prelimbic mPFC (r = 0.733),between the prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC (r = 0.959), and between the basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY (r = 0.996).The pattern of c-Fos counts in animals exposed to saccharin revealed significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between the NAc core and NAc shell (r = 0.792), between the NAc shell and dorsal striatum (r = 0.715), and between the prelimbic mPFC and infralimbic mPFC (r = 0.999).
The goal of the study was to determine if the source (VTA) and forebrain projection targets (NAC, AMY, mPFC) of DA reward-related neurons were simultaneously activated after novel ingestion of fat and sugar in rats using the cellular c-fos technique. The present study is a detailed description of the protocols of a study published previously69. It was hypothesized that the VTA, its major projection zones to the prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC, the core and shell of the NAC and the basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY, as well as the dorsal striatum would act as a distributed brain network24-27, and display coordinated and simultaneous FLI following novel intake of glucose (8%), fructose (8%) or corn oil (3.5%) solutions relative to saccharin (0.2%), water and other control solutions. Corn oil, glucose and fructose, but not saccharin intake produced significant and differential FLI activation of the VTA, the prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC, the core and shell of the NAC, the basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY, and the dorsal striatum. In addition to the c-fos technique, behavioral measures of sugar, fat and artificial sweetener intake were employed.
One critical step included timely sampling of intake such that they would be comparatively equal, thereby ensuring that any differences in c-fos activation across sites were due to the solution being consumed rather the either the pattern or magnitude of intake. The four days of baseline saccharin intake ensured that the food-restricted animals sampled the solutions quickly, and thereby minimized non-specific effects. A second critical step was that the procedure caused minimal stress or novelty to the animals as changes in emotional valence independent of intake type could also produce c-fos activation. Therefore, the findings provide a convincing "proof of concept" for the effectiveness of this approach and protocols related to identify whether acute exposure to fat (e.g., corn oil), sugar (glucose and fructose) and non-nutritive sweetener (saccharin) solutions simultaneously activate DA-mediated ROI's in manner suggestive of a coordinated distributed brain system24-27.
Because optimal c-Fos activation requires time-sensitive responses prior to sacrifice51,52, previously validated procedures42,44 maximized solution sampling with short latency in the 1-hr test. Thus, food restricted rats were trained with 0.2% saccharin solutions (10 ml, 1 hr) for 4 days, and given the test solution on the fifth day. Baseline saccharin intakes significantly and progressively increased, and fructose and glucose, but not corn oil or saccharin intakes on the fifth day were significantly higher than fourth day saccharin intake. Hence, solutions associated with increased FLI significantly increased (glucose, fructose) or failed to affect (corn oil) intake relative to previous saccharin training, and appeared to be mediated through a reward-related behavioral incentive mechanism. Careful consideration needs to be taken to ensure sampling and equality of behavior. Other researchers can effectively use this procedure to study other types of novel solutions or introduce variations in the paradigm to understand mechanisms related to adaptation and learning.
The advantage of the present protocol is the ability to compare effects of well-studied sugars (fructose, glucose) and fats (corn oil) and compare their c-fos activating effects with than of important controls (the non-nutritive sweetener, saccharin, a control emulsifier, xanthan gum, and water), and then examine these effects across six related brain sites. Although this approach has obvious benefits in allowing simultaneous examination across brain sites of the different palatable substances, it has the drawback of producing a potentially astronomical data set of cells displaying neuronal expression. To make this more manageable, we took the approach of analyzing three representative coronal slices per site common to all animals in all of the testing conditions. This of course is accompanied by the caveat of choosing the appropriate levels of each ROI in these three sections. Given the broad rostro-caudal extent of the AMY, NAC, mPFC, dorsal striatum and VTA, this caveat should not be taken lightly. Further, it is then incumbent upon the investigators to be consistent in accurately selecting each of the three representative sections across all animals across all sites. Minor mistakes in this choice can lead to "false positives" and "false negatives". Efficiency of counting also is a relevant variable. Our solution for this potential confound was to assign two uninformed raters for each section in each ROI, and then ensure that inter-rater reliability (using correlation of counts) always exceeded 0.8. This approach, while duplicative, gave us far greater assurance about accuracy as the inter-rater reliability easily exceeded this minimum criterion. Sub-regions of the NAC (core vs. shell), AMY (baso-lateral vs. central-cortico-medial) and mPFC (perilimbic vs. infralimbic) were analyzed. These regions could be divided further, particularly the individual AMY nuclei, the patch and matrix compartments of the dorsal striatum, and the NAC shell (vertex, arch, cone, intermediate zone). Because the NAC shell failed to consistently display changes in FLI following corn oil, glucose or fructose, further sub-analyses of this structure was not performed. Definitive examination of the patch and matrix zones of the dorsal striatum required further immunohistochemical techniques that were not employed in the present study, but would be an important follow-up study. Analyses of individual AMY nuclei within each sub-region would also be an additional future study.
Previous studies showed that sucrose intake increased FLI in the central AMY nucleus, the VTA as well as the shell, but not core, of the NAC, yet oral or IG saccharin infusions are largely ineffective 55-57, 60-62. Glucose and fructose intake elicited sugar-specific effects upon FLI with both effective in the central-cortico-medial AMY and dorsal striatum, the former effective in the NAc core and the basolateral AMY, and the latter effective in the infralimbic mPFC. Saccharin intake failed to elicit any changes in FLI in any site relative to water. Fat intake also increased FLI in accumbal and mPFC sites in previous studies65-67, and produced simultaneous significant activation in the VTA, infralimbic and prelimbic mPFC, dorsal striatum, NAC core, and the basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY.
Although previous studies demonstrated that sugar and fat intake induced FLI in forebrain meso-corticolimbic and nigro-striatal DA systems, the present study systematically evaluated simultaneous FLI activation in the VTA, basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY, dorsal striatum, prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC, NAc core and shell following acute intake of corn oil, fructose, glucose or saccharin. Significant FLI increases were highly related to each other across forebrain sites, supporting the idea of distributed brain network activation mediating sugar and fat intake. Such protocols identifying simultaneous changes in multiple brain loci can be utilized under chronic and binging conditions as well as under conditioning and preferences. These studies show that a strong anatomical correlate (c-fos) can be effectively used in multiple brain sites simultaneously to identify candidates for mediating palatable intake and preferences in animals that may provide insights into human medical conditions related to obesity, diabetes and other eating disorders.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Thanks to Diana Icaza-Culaki, Cristal Sampson and Theologia Karagiorgis for their hard work on this project.
Equipment | |||
Sprague-Dawley rats | Charles River Laboratories | CD-1 | |
Wire Mesh Cages | Lab Products, Seaford, DE | 30-Cage rack | |
Rat Chow | PMI Nutrition International | 5001 | |
Taut Metal Spring | Lab Products, Seaford, DE | n/a | |
Rat Weighing Scale | Fisher Scientific Company | n/a | |
Nalgene Centrifuge Tubes | Lab Products, Seaford, DE | 10-0501 | |
Rubber Stopper | Lab Products, Seaford, DE | n/a | |
Metal Sippers | Lab Products, Seaford, DE | n/a | |
Saccharin | Sigma Chemical Co | 82385-42-0 | |
Kool-Aid, Cherry | Kool-Aid | Commerical | |
Kool-Aid, Grape | Kool-Aid | Commercial | |
Fructose | Sigma Chemical Co | F0127 | |
Glucose | Sigma Chemical Co | G8270 | |
Corn Oil | Mazzola | Commerical | |
Xanthan Gum | Sigma Chemical Co | 11138-66-2 | |
Sliding Microtome | Microm International | n/a | |
Neurolucida Camera | MBF Bioscience | Software application | |
Gelatin-coated Slides | Fisher Scientific Company | 12-550-343 | |
Cover glass | Fisher Scientific Company | 12-545-M | |
Golden Nylon Brushes | Loew-Cornell | 2037 | |
Natural Hair Sable | Loew-Cornell | 2022 | |
24 Well Plates | Fisher Scientific | 3527 | |
6 Well Plates | Fisher Scientific | 3506 | |
1L Pyrex bottles | Fisher Scientific | 1395-1L | |
Tissue insert (tissue strainer) | Fisher Scientific | 7200214 | |
Eagle pipettes | World Precision Instruments | E10 for 1-10ul | |
Eagle pipettes | World Precision Instruments | E100 for 20-100ul | |
Eagle pipettes | World Precision Instruments | E200 for 50-200ul | |
Eagle pipettes | World Precision Instruments | E1000 for 100-1000ul | |
Eagle pipettes | World Precision Instruments | E5000 for 1000-5000ul | |
Universal Tips .1-10ul | World Precision Instruments | 500192 | |
Universal Tips 5-200ul | World Precision Instruments | 500194 | |
Universal Tips 500-5000ul | World Precision Instruments | 500198 | |
Blade Vibroslice 100 | World Precision Instruments | BLADE | |
DPX Mounting Medium | Electron Microscopy | 13510 | |
15mL centrifuge tubes | Biologix Research Co. | 10-0501 | |
Slide Boxes | Biologix Research Co. | 41-6100 | |
Orbital Shaker | Madell Corporation | ZD-9556 | |
weigh boats | Fisher Scientific | 02-202-100 | |
5mL disposable pipettes | Fisher Scientific | 13-711-5AM | |
Stereo Investigator Software | Micro Bright Field | Software application | |
Name | Company | Catalog number | Yorumlar |
Reagents | |||
Paraformaldehyde Granular | Fisher Scientific | 19210 | |
NaCl | Fisher Scientific | S271-1 | |
Sodium Phophate Monobasic | Fisher Scientific | S468-500 | |
Sodium Phosphate Diphasic | Fisher Scientific | BP332-500 | |
Hydrogen Peroxide | Fisher Scientific | H324-500 | |
SafeClear II | Fisher Scientific | 23-044-192 | |
Methanol | Fisher Scientific | A412-1 | |
Normal Goat Serum | Vector | S-1000 | |
Biotinylated Anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) | Vector | BA-1000 | |
ABC Kit Peroxidase Standard | Vector | PK-4000 | |
Anti-cFos (Ab-5) Rabbit | EMD chem/Cal Biochem | PC38 | |
Triton X 100 | SigmaAldrich | X-100 | |
3,3' diaminobenzidine tetra hydrochloride | SigmaAldrich | D5905 | |
Sodium Hydroxide | SigmaAldrich | 5881 | |
Primary TH anti body | EMD Millipore | AB152 | |
Euthosol | Virbac AH |