Dual exposure to stress in different stages of development affects eating behavior of male Wistar rats.

Publication date: Available online 6 December 2019Source: Physiology & BehaviorAuthor(s): Julliet Araújo de Souza, Larissa Cavalcanti do Amaral Almeida, Gabriel Araújo Tavares, Lívia de Almeida Lira Falcão, Luana Cruz Beltrão, Fernanda Cicalese Ourem Costa, Felipe Leitão de Souza, Matilde Cesiana da Silva, Sandra Lopes de SouzaAbstractMaternal separation stress is a model of early life stress performed by the separation between dam and pups in the first days of life. The consequences of this early stress have been demonstrated on various behaviors, including feeding behavior. The results, however, are still controversial and it seems that a second exposure to stress later in life exacerbates the adverse outcomes. The present study aimed to determine the effects of maternal separation as a model of stress in early life, with or without a later life stress experience on eating behavior. Lactating Wistar rats were separated from their litters from postnatal day 2 (PND 2) to PND 14 for 3 h in the dark phase of the circadian cycle. The groups control (C) and separated (S) were composed. The assessment of food intake was performed between the ages of 60 and 150 days of life with a group that experienced only the early stress by maternal separation and with a second group that experienced the pre-weaning maternal separation stress and the food stress from 60 days of age. This food stress consisted of allowing visual and olfactory exposure of the animals to palatable food but d...
Source: Physiology and Behavior - Category: Physiology Source Type: research