Relationship between CB1 Receptors in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell and the hedonic value of food

摘要

Obesity is a pathology often associated with the genesis of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, etc. Research in this field has focused on understanding the different factors that promote the beginning and maintenance of obesity, one of them are the hedonic properties of food. Thus, the aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of administration of the selective CB1 receptor agonist ACEA in the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcS) on palatable food intake in pre-satiated male wistar rats. During a 4-day period of habituation, the animals were deprived of food for 22 hours, and then they had access to the standard food (solid) during 1 hour, and finally they had access to the experimental food (sweetened condensed milk, 10% sucrose) for 1 hour. In the experimental sessions, the animals were injected with vehicle and 2 different doses of ACEA (0.25, 0.5 or 0.75 μg, multidose crossover design, where dose was determined by a Latin square with an inter-test interval of 2 days, each rat was registered in 3 independent experimental sessions) before having access to experimental food (rats were in the same feeding paradigm as in the habituation period). According to the obtained results, ACEA administration had a dose-dependent stimulatory effect of palatable food ingestion. Our findings suggest that activation of CB1 receptors in the NAcS stimulate intake via increasing the hedonic properties of food.