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的问题。肥胖影响的女性比 男性；事实上，目前全球肥胖女性人数至少比男性多1亿。确实有 肥胖率上升的多个拟议原因，特别是高卡路里、高密度、 美味的食物和减少的能量消耗。享乐式喂养，食物摄入量与生理无关 饥饿，受快乐和可口的驱使，并不是肥胖流行的唯一罪魁祸首，但它肯定是 一个主要的促成因素。此外，在享乐喂养中存在性别差异，这可能支持 观察肥胖的性别差异。 虽然之前的研究已经确定了享乐性喂养和吸毒之间的重叠，但很少有 知道输入，如感觉和胃肠生理对享乐喂养的作用。一位少校 这一领域的差距是了解肠道微生物群在享乐喂养中的作用。 这个项目的目标是描述肠道微生物群中的性别差异及其影响。 关于享乐喂养。我们假设，女性对高脂肪、可口食物的摄入量增加 与雄性相比的发生是因为雌性的生殖成功驱动了一个保守的网络。我们 进一步假设这个网络的一部分包括肠道微生物组。 预期结果和影响：该项目将对粪便微生物群多样性进行描述， 雄性和雌性大鼠在不同时间点的组成和短链脂肪酸的产生，以及相关的 对于由具有高脂肪的单节行为经济学技术确定的享乐性喂养， 令人愉快的奖励。 我们的目标是： 1)确定肠道微生物群如何影响享乐喂养中的性别差异。A)中断 成年后肠道微生物群增加雌性大鼠的享乐性喂养比雄性大鼠更多吗？B)这样做 早期肠道微生物群的破坏会影响成年后享乐喂养的性别差异吗？c) 移植雄性大鼠肠道微生物区系会减少雌性大鼠的享乐饮食吗？会吗？ 移植雌性大鼠肠道微生物区系可增加雄性大鼠的享乐饮食？ 2)确定怀孕和怀孕后对享乐喂养的影响。A)怀孕增加了吗？ 雌性大鼠的享乐性喂养？B)前一次怀孕会增加雌性大鼠对可口食物的寻求量吗？ 这项拟议的工作很重要，因为更好地理解肥胖的性别差异可以帮助 个性化干预。这项工作特别告知基于肠道微生物组的干预措施。

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.