The current study examined whether adolescent rats are more vulnerable than adult rats to the lasting adverse effects of cannabinoid exposure on brain and behavior. Male Wistar rats were repeatedly exposed to D-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (D 9 -THC, 5 mg/kg i.p.) in a place-conditioning paradigm during either the adolescent (post-natal day 28 + ) or adult (post-natal day 60 + ) developmental stages. Adult rats avoided a D 9 -THC-paired environment after either four or eight pairings and this avoidance persisted for at least 16 days following the final D 9 -THC injection. In contrast, adolescent rats showed no significant place aversion. Adult D 9 -THC-treated rats produced more vocalizations than adolescent rats when handled during the intoxicated state, also suggesting greater drug-induced aversion. After a 10-15 day washout, both adult and adolescent D 9 -THC pretreated rats showed decreased social interaction, while only D 9 -THC pretreated adolescent rats showed significantly impaired object recognition memory. Seventeen days following their last D 9 -THC injection, rats were euthanased and hippocampal tissue processed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis proteomics. There was no evidence of residual D 9 -THC being present in blood at this time. Proteomic analysis uncovered 27 proteins, many involved in regulating oxidative stress/mitochondrial functioning and cytoarchitecture, which were differentially expressed in adolescent D 9 -THC pretreated rats relative to adolescent controls. In adults, only 10 hippocampal proteins were differentially expressed in D 9 -THC compared to vehicle-pretreated controls. Overall these findings suggest that adolescent rats find repeated D 9 -THC exposure less aversive than adults, but that cannabinoid exposure causes greater lasting memory deficits and hippocampal alterations in adolescent than adult rats.

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Higher fat intake in pump-treated youth and lower fiber intake in all youth were associated with an A1c level of ≥ 8.5%. Improving dietary quality may help improve A1c.

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Background: Excessive teenage alcohol consumption is of great concern because alcohol may adversely alter the developmental trajectory of the brain. The aim of the present study was to assess whether chronic intermittent alcohol intake during the adolescent period alters hippocampal protein expression to a greater extent than during adulthood.Methods: Adolescent [postnatal day (PND) 27] and adult (PND 55) male Wistar rats were given 8 hours daily access to beer (4.44% ethanol v ⁄ v) in addition to ad libitum food and water for 4 weeks. From a large subject pool, subgroups of adolescent and adult rats were selected that displayed equivalent alcohol intake (average of 6.1 g ⁄ kg ⁄ day ethanol). The 4 weeks of alcohol access were followed by a 2-week alcohol-free washout period after which the hippocampus was analyzed using 2-DE proteomics.Results: Beer consumption by the adult group resulted in modest hippocampal changes relative to alcohol naı¨ve adult controls. The only changes observed were an up-regulation of citrate synthase (a precursor to the Krebs cycle) and fatty acid binding protein (which facilitates fatty acid metabolism). In contrast, adolescent rats consuming alcohol showed more widespread hippocampal changes relative to adolescent controls. These included an increase in cytoskeletal protein T-complex protein 1 subunit epsilon (TCP-1) and a decrease in the expression of 10 other proteins, including glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), triose phosphate isomerise, alpha-enolase, and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (all involved in glycolysis); glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (an important regulator of glutamate); methylmalonate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (involved in aldehyde detoxification); ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase isozyme L1 (a regulator of protein degradation); and synapsin 2 (involved in synaptogenesis and neurotransmitter release).Conclusions: These results suggest the adolescent hippocampus is more vulnerable to lasting proteomic changes following repeated alcohol exposure. The proteins most affected include those related to glycolysis, glutamate metabolism, neurodegeneration, synaptic function, and cytoskeletal structure.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Neophobia, pickiness and diet variety are associated with diet quality and health outcomes in young children. Limited research has examined these associations among youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D), a population at risk for poor health outcomes when dietary quality is inadequate. SUBJECTS/METHODS Youth (n = 252, age 13.2±2.8 years, 92% white, diabetes duration 6.3±3.4 years) with T1D and their parents completed 3-day youth diet records; parents completed questionnaires regarding youth neophobia, pickiness and diabetes management adherence. Medical records provided biomedical data. Dietary quality indicators included Nutrient-Rich Foods Index 9.3 (NRF9.3), Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005), Whole Plant Food Density (WPFD) and key single nutrients. Dietary variety was operationalized as a count of 20 recommended food groups consumed. Relationships of dietary quality and diabetes management adherence with neophobia, pickiness and dietary variety as independent variables were examined using multiple linear regression analyses adjusted for total energy intake, age, height and weight. RESULTS In multiple linear regression analyses, NRF9.3 and HEI-2005 were each inversely associated with neophobia and pickiness, and positively associated with dietary variety. WPF and potassium were each positively associated and saturated fat was inversely associated with dietary variety. However, in models simultaneously including neophobia, pickiness and dietary variety as independent correlates of dietary quality, only relationships with dietary variety remained significant. Diabetes management adherence was negatively associated with both neophobia and pickiness and positively associated with dietary variety. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that increasing dietary variety may contribute toward improved dietary quality among youth with T1D, despite potentially adverse influences of neophobia and pickiness.

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