Sex differences in hedonic feeding: the role of the gut microbiome

项目摘要 肥胖在我国是一种流行病，它正在成为一个全球性问题。肥胖影响更多的女性， 事实上，目前全球肥胖的女性比男性至少多1亿。有 肥胖率上升的多个原因，特别是，增加了获得高热量， 美味的食物和减少的能量消耗。享乐喂养，食物摄入不考虑生理 饥饿和快乐和可口的驱使，不是肥胖流行病的唯一罪魁祸首，但它肯定是 一个主要的促成因素。此外，在享乐喂养方面存在性别差异，这可能支持 观察肥胖的性别差异。 虽然先前的研究已经确定了享乐喂养和药物成瘾之间的重叠，但 关于输入的作用，如感觉和胃肠道生理对享乐喂养的了解。一个主要 该领域的差距在于理解肠道微生物组在享乐喂养中的作用。 该项目的目的是描述肠道微生物组的性别差异及其影响 关于享乐主义的饮食我们假设，女性对高脂肪、可口食物的消费增加 与男性相比，由于女性生殖成功驱动的保守网络而发生。我们 进一步假设该网络的一部分包括肠道微生物组。 预期成果和影响：该项目将对粪便微生物组多样性进行表征， 在不同时间点，雄性和雌性大鼠的脂肪酸组成和短链脂肪酸产生，以及相关的 到由高脂肪的单次行为经济学技术确定的享乐喂养， 可口的奖励 我们的目标是： 1)确定肠道微生物组如何影响享乐喂养中的性别差异。（一）干扰 成年期的肠道微生物组增加雌性大鼠的享乐喂养超过雄性大鼠？B）是否 早期生活中肠道微生物组的破坏影响成年期享乐喂养的性别差异？c）第三条 从雄性大鼠移植肠道菌群是否会减少雌性大鼠的享乐喂养？并 移植雌性大鼠肠道菌群增加雄性大鼠的享乐性进食？ 2)确定怀孕和怀孕后如何影响享乐喂养。（一）怀孕增加 雌性大鼠的享乐喂养B）先前怀孕是否增加雌性大鼠对可口食物的寻求？ 这项工作很重要，因为更好地了解肥胖的性别差异可以提供信息， 个性化的干预。这项工作特别为基于肠道微生物组的干预提供了信息。

Project Summary Obesity is an epidemic in our country and it is becoming a global problem. Obesity affects more women than men; in fact, there are currently at least 100 million more women with obesity than men, globally. There are multiple proposed causes for rising obesity rates, particularly, increased access to calorie-dense, highly palatable foods and decreased energy expenditure. Hedonic feeding, food intake regardless of physiological hunger and driven by pleasure and palatability, is not the sole culprit for the obesity epidemic, but it is certainly a major contributing factor. Furthermore, there are sex differences in hedonic feeding that could support the observed sex differences in obesity. While previous research has determined overlap between hedonic feeding and drug addiction, there is less known about the role of inputs such as sensation and gastrointestinal physiology on hedonic feeding. A major gap in this field is understanding the role of the gut microbiome in hedonic feeding. The objective of this project is to characterize sex differences in the gut microbiome and their impact on hedonic feeding. We hypothesize that increased consumption of high fat, palatable foods by females compared to males occurs because of a conserved network driven by reproductive success for females. We further hypothesize that part of this network includes the gut microbiome. Expected outcome and impact: This project will produce a characterization of fecal microbiome diversity, composition, and short chain fatty acid production in male and female rats, at different time points, and related to hedonic feeding as determined by a single-session behavioral economics technique with a high fat, palatable reward. Our aims are to: 1) Determine how the gut microbiome impacts sex differences in hedonic feeding. a) Does disruption of the gut microbiome during adulthood increase hedonic feeding in female rats more than male rats? b) Does disruption of the gut microbiome in early life influence sex differences in hedonic feeding during adulthood? c) Does transplantation of gut microbiota from a male rat decrease hedonic feeding in female rats? Does transplantation of gut microbiota from a female rat increase hedonic feeding in male rats? 2) Determine how pregnancy and post-pregnancy impacts hedonic feeding. a) Does pregnancy increase hedonic feeding in female rats? b) Does a previous pregnancy increase palatable food seeking in female rats? This proposed work is important because a better understanding of sex differences in obesity could inform personalized interventions. This work specifically informs gut microbiome-based interventions.