Dietary supplementation with fish oil prevents high fat diet-induced enhancement of sensitivity to the locomotor stimulating effects of cocaine in adolescent female rats

Abstract

BACKGROUND Eating a diet high in fat can lead to obesity, chronic metabolic disease, and increased inflammation in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Dietary supplements that are high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can reduce or prevent these negative health consequences in rats. Eating high fat chow also increases the sensitivity of rats to behavioral effects of drugs acting on dopamine systems (e.g., cocaine), and this effect is greatest in adolescent females. METHODS The present experiment tested the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with fish oil prevents high fat chow induced increases in sensitivity to cocaine in adolescent female rats. Female Sprague-Dawley rats (post-natal day 25–27) ate standard laboratory chow (5.7% fat), high fat chow (34.4% fat), or high fat chow supplemented with fish oil (20% w/w). Cocaine dose dependently (1–17.8 mg/kg) increased locomotion and induced sensitization across 6 weeks of once-weekly testing in all rats; however, these effects were greatest in rats eating high fat chow. RESULTS Dietary supplementation with fish oil prevented enhanced locomotion and sensitization in rats eating high fat chow. There were no differences in inflammatory markers in plasma or the hypothalamus among dietary conditions. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that dietary supplementation with fish oil can prevent high fat diet-induced sensitization to cocaine, but they fail to support the view that these effects are due to changes in proinflammatory cytokines. These data add to a growing literature on the relationship between diet and drug abuse and extend the potential health benefits of fish oil to stimulant drug abuse prevention.

Dietary supplementation with fish oil prevents high fat diet-induced enhancement of sensitivity to the behavioral effects of quinpirole

“…Further, insulin-activated protein kinases are decreased in rats eating high fat chow (Speed et al ., 2011; Ramos et al ., 2017). However, the effects on sensitivity to dopaminergic drugs are apparent prior to the development of insulin resistance and in the absence of any significant increases in proinflammatory cytokines (Serafine et al ., 2016). That is, these effects all occur as a result of eating high fat chow, but perhaps the effects on immune and insulin systems are occurring concurrently to (rather than underlying) the high fat chow-induced enhanced sensitivity to dopaminergic drugs described here and elsewhere (Hernandez-Casner et al ., 2017).…”

“…Furthermore, supplementation with EPA alone has been successful in reducing high fat chow-induced insulin resistance (Kalupahana et al ., 2010). One important caveat is that in the present report, only one concentration of fish oil was used, based on previous work (Hernandez-Casner et al ., 2017; Serafine et al ., 2016). An estimate of 1 gram per day is recommended for humans (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, 2016), suggesting that the concentration used in the present report might be relatively large compared to what the general population typically ingests.…”

“…In previous reports, when fish oil was added directly to the high fat chow, rats never developed enhanced sensitivity to the behavioral effects of dopaminergic drugs (Hernandez-Casner et al ., 2017; Serafine et al ., 2016). In other words, dietary supplementation with fish oil prevented high fat chow-induced enhanced sensitivity to quinpirole (Hernandez-Casner et al ., 2017).…”

The Effects of Eating a High Fat Diet on Sensitivity of Male and Female Rats to Methamphetamine and Dopamine D1 Receptor Agonist SKF 82958

“…While only a few publications include both males and females in the same study (Collins et al, 2015;Ramos et al, 2019), separate experiments studying male and female rats have examined the impact of eating high fat chow on sensitivity of rats to cocaine (Baladi et al, 2012b;Serafine et al, 2014;Serafine et al, 2016); however, less is known about how diet impacts sensitivity of female rats to methamphetamine (McGuire et al, 2011;Robinson et al, 2015). While often grouped together as psychostimulants, several important differences between methamphetamine and cocaine necessitate the further examination of this drug of abuse in both sexes.…”

Dietary supplementation with fish oil reverses high fat diet-induced enhanced sensitivity to the behavioral effects of quinpirole

“…Dietary supplementation with fish oil, which is rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, is successful in preventing some of the negative health consequences associated with eating a high fat diet (e.g., insulin resistance and obesity; Hainault et al, 1993). In previous reports, when fish oil was added directly to the high fat chow, rats never developed enhanced sensitivity to the behavioral effects of dopaminergic drugs (Hernandez-Casner et al, 2017;Serafine et al, 2016). In other words, dietary supplementation with fish oil prevented high fat chow-induced enhanced sensitivity to quinpirole (Hernandez-Casner et al, 2017).…”