Exposure to a maternal cafeteria diet changes open‐field behaviour in the developing offspring

Abstract

The early postnatal period is a sensitive period in rodents as behavioural systems are developing and maturing during this time. However, little is currently known about the behavioural effects of feeding a hyper-energetic cafeteria diet (CD) during the lactational period when offspring behaviour is tested during early adolescence. To this end, 23 days old offspring from dams (Wistar) fed on CD during lactation were tested in either the open-field or the elevated plus-maze for exploration and anxietyrelated behaviour. On postnatal day 9, maternal behaviour and non-maternal behaviour of the dam was assessed. It was hypothesized that lactational CD feeding would reduce anxiety in the offspring. CD-fed dams had a higher energy intake, due to an overconsumption of sugars and fats. When offspring from these dams were exposed to the open field after weaning, their locomotor activity was increased. They entered the more aversive inner zone of the open-field after a shorter latency, made more entries into and spent more time in the inner zone. Anxiety-related behaviour was not affected upon exposure to the elevated plus maze, suggesting anxiolysis in the open-field only. Increased maternal licking/grooming behaviour could possibly contribute to the anxiolytic phenotype as observed in the offspring from the CD group. In conclusion, we demonstrate that lactational overfeeding impacts on the development of behaviour in the early adolescent rat.

A Review of the Impact of Maternal Obesity on the Cognitive Function and Mental Health of the Offspring

“…These findings were supported by rodent experiments that found more anxiolytic behaviors in the elevated plus maze and open field test in 1–3-month old male and/or female offspring born to dams fed a high fat diet before mating and during gestation and lactation compared to offspring born to dams fed a control diet [28,29,30,31]. However, weanling (e.g., post-natal day 23–45) rodents born to obese mothers or those fed a cafeteria diet during lactation exhibit lower levels of anxiety [32,33]. Decreased anxiety has also been reported in young adult rats whose mothers were fed a high fat diet before, but not during pregnancy [20], as well as in offspring of dams fed a cafeteria diet during lactation only [34].…”

“…These results suggest that pre- vs. post-natal exposure to a high fat diet may result in different susceptibility to anxiety in the offspring, which may also vary according to sex and brain maturation. This may also be influenced by diet-induced variations in the degree of maternal licking and grooming [33], which is known to influence anxiety responses in offspring via epigenetic modifications in glucocorticoid receptor expression [36]. A recent report in piglets that found no association between prenatal high fat feeding and anxiety suggests that such effects may also be species-specific [37].…”

Cafeteria diet during the gestation period programs developmental and behavioral courses in the offspring

“…A behavioral effect of gestation diet could be due to the direct nutritional effects of the diet itself, but could also be mediated by a change in maternal behavior (Speight et al, 2017). Thus, we also explored maternal behavior following exposure to the diet during gestation.…”

“…Among various experimental diets of malnutrition, the cafeteria diet, which is considered a hyperenergetic diet, has been well established as an obesogenic diet in rodents and as a model of a Western‐style diet. In short, a cafeteria diet consists of various hyperenergetic and highly palatable human food items (Rothwell and Stock, 1979; Speight et al, 2017).…”

“…Exposure to maternal consumption of a cafeteria diet during lactation leads to reduced anxiety and changes in memory in the offspring when tested at adult age (Wright et al, 2011a,b). In another study, a cafeteria diet during the lactation period changed open‐field behavior in the developing offspring (Speight et al, 2017). Although these results suggest the nutritional programming of behavior, less is known about the behavioral consequences of prenatal exposure.…”