Objective: We analyzed the effects of a short exposure to a cafeteria diet during early infancy in rats on their metabolic response to fed/fasting conditions in key tissues involved in energy homeostasis.
Methods: Ten-day-old male pups were fed a control or a cafeteria diet for 12 days and then killed under ad libitum feeding conditions or 12 h fasting. The expression of key genes related to energy metabolism in liver, retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (WAT) and hypothalamus were analyzed.
Results: Despite no differences in body weight, cafeteria-fed animals had almost double the fat mass of control rats. They also showed higher food intake, higher leptinemia and altered hypothalamic expression of Neuropetide Y, suggesting a dysfunction in the control of food intake. Unlike controls, cafeteria-fed animals did not decrease WAT expression of Pparg, sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 or Cidea under fasting conditions, and displayed lower Pnpla2 expression than controls. In liver, compared with controls, cafeteria animals presented: (i) lower expression of genes related with fatty acid uptake and lipogenesis under ad libitum-fed conditions; (ii) higher expression of fatty acid oxidation-related genes and glucokinase under fasting conditions; (iii) greater expression of leptin and insulin receptors; and higher protein levels of insulin receptor and the pAMPK/AMPK ratio.
Conclusion: A short period of exposure to a cafeteria diet in early infancy in rat pups is enough to disturb the metabolic response to fed/fasting conditions in key tissues involved in energy homeostasis, particularly in WAT, and hence induces an exacerbated body fat accumulation and increased metabolic risk, with no apparent effects on body weight.