Diet-induced inflammation in the anterior paraventricular thalamus induces compulsive sucrose-seeking

Jingjing Cheng; Xiaolin Ma; Chunlu Li; Rahim Ullah; Xiaoyu Wang; Jianmei Long; Zhenxin Yuan; Shuangshuang Liu; Junfen Fu; Zhong Chen; Yi Shen; Yu-Dong Zhou

doi:10.1038/s41593-022-01129-y

Diet-induced inflammation in the anterior paraventricular thalamus induces compulsive sucrose-seeking

Nat Neurosci. 2022 Aug;25(8):1009-1013. doi: 10.1038/s41593-022-01129-y. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Authors

Jingjing Cheng^#^{1

2

3}, Xiaolin Ma^#^{1

2}, Chunlu Li^#^{1

4}, Rahim Ullah^{1

5}, Xiaoyu Wang^{1

2}, Jianmei Long^{1

2}, Zhenxin Yuan^{1

2}, Shuangshuang Liu⁶, Junfen Fu⁵, Zhong Chen⁷, Yi Shen^{8

9}, Yu-Dong Zhou^{10

11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Neuroscience, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Ophthalmology of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
³ Laboratory Medicine Center, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, School of Medical Humanitarians, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
⁵ Department of Endocrinology, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
⁶ Core Facilities, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁸ Institute of Neuroscience, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Hangzhou, China. yshen2@zju.edu.cn.
⁹ Zhejiang Laboratory for Systems & Precision Medicine, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, China. yshen2@zju.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Institute of Neuroscience, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Hangzhou, China. yudongzhou@zju.edu.cn.
¹¹ Department of Ophthalmology of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. yudongzhou@zju.edu.cn.
¹² Zhejiang Laboratory for Systems & Precision Medicine, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, China. yudongzhou@zju.edu.cn.
¹³ Lingang Laboratory, Shanghai, China. yudongzhou@zju.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 35915173
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01129-y

Abstract

Overconsumption of palatable food may initiate neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuitry that may contribute to eating disorders. Here we report that high-fat diet (HFD) consumption impedes threat-cue-induced suppression of sucrose-seeking in mice. This compulsive sucrose-seeking was due to enhanced cue-triggered neuronal activity in the anterior paraventricular thalamus (aPVT) resulting from HFD-induced microglia activation. Thus, metabolic inflammation in the aPVT produces an adaptive response to threat cues, leading to compulsive food-seeking.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anterior Thalamic Nuclei*
Compulsive Behavior
Cues
Diet, High-Fat / adverse effects
Inflammation / chemically induced
Mice
Reward
Sucrose* / metabolism

Substances

Sucrose