Postingestive Modulation of Food Seeking Depends on Vagus-Mediated Dopamine Neuron Activity

Abstract

Summary Postingestive nutrient sensing can induce food preferences. However, much less is known about the ability of postingestive signals to modulate food-seeking behaviors. Here we report a causal connection between postingestive sucrose sensing and vagus-mediated dopamine neuron activity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), supporting food seeking. The activity of VTA dopamine neurons increases significantly after administration of intragastric sucrose, and deletion of the NMDA receptor in these neurons, which affects bursting and plasticity, abolishes lever pressing for postingestive sucrose delivery. Furthermore, lesions of the hepatic branch of the vagus nerve significantly impair postingestive-dependent VTA dopamine neuron activity and food seeking, whereas optogenetic stimulation of left vagus nerve neurons significantly increases VTA dopamine neuron activity. These data establish a necessary role of vagus-mediated dopamine neuron activity in postingestive-dependent food seeking, which is independent of taste signaling.

The Appetite Suppressant D-norpseudoephedrine (Cathine) Acts via D1/D2-Like Dopamine Receptors in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell

“…Altogether, these results raised the possibility of dopaminergic signaling nature of the NPE’s cue and/or its production of tolerance ( Pehek et al, 1990 ; Schechter, 1990a ). Our findings confirm that DA D1/D2 receptors mediate NPE induced food suppression, which is in line with the idea that DA plays a major role in regulating food intake and caloric energy balance ( Fernandes et al, 2020 ). Moreover, a state of DA dysregulation has been observed in obese rats ( Geiger et al, 2009 ; Alsiö et al, 2010 ).…”

The Phantom Satiation Hypothesis of Bariatric Surgery

“…Lastly, the hypothesis described in this article deliberately focused on satiation because it is a well-known function of vagal signaling in the upper GI tract ( Bai et al, 2019 ). Nonetheless, the vagus nerve is involved in modulating food-related sensations and feelings other than satiation including, but not limited to, food reward, appetition, learned taste avoidance, food preference, and nausea ( Sclafani and Kramer, 1985 ; Labouesse et al, 2012 ; Sclafani and Ackroff, 2012 ; Horn, 2014 ; Behary and Miras, 2015 ; Hankir et al, 2017 ; Han et al, 2018 ; Shechter and Schwartz, 2018 ; Qu et al, 2019 ; Sandoval, 2019 ; Fernandes et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). It is therefore conceivable that phantom sensations arising after bariatric surgery may include phantom nausea and discomfort, as well as taste disturbance and modified food preferences.…”

Immunity and the carotid body: implications for metabolic diseases

“…The use of electrical stimulation of vagus nerve applied as a therapeutic for metabolic/inflammatory diseases envisioned and highlighted the importance of bioelectronic medicine not only for these pathologies but also for other therapeutic applications (Birmingham et al 2014 ; Dirr et al n.d. ). Homeostatic and reward signaling of brain circuits has been implicated in obesity and metabolic disorders together with low firing capacity of vagal nerves (Atasoy et al 2012 ; Fernandes et al 2020 ; Sternson et al 2013 ) and there is an increasing interest in the development of treatments aimed at targeting brain regions associated with appetite behaviors (Whiting et al 2018 ). Neuromodulation using electrical or chemical alterations has been applied to improve biological functions and can either stimulate or inhibit central or peripheral autonomic nervous processes to influence homeostatic and reward pathways associated with metabolic diseases (Dendy et al 2019 ).…”