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

项目概要 肥胖在我国是一种流行病，并正在成为一个全球性问题。肥胖对女性的影响比 男人；事实上，目前全球肥胖女性人数至少比男性多 1 亿。有 肥胖率上升的多种拟议原因，特别是增加摄入热量密集、高热量的食物 美味的食物和减少的能量消耗。享乐喂养，不顾生理的进食 由快乐和适口性驱动的饥饿并不是肥胖流行的唯一罪魁祸首，但它肯定是 一个主要影响因素。此外，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。 虽然之前的研究已经确定享乐喂养和吸毒成瘾之间存在重叠，但目前的研究较少 了解诸如感觉和胃肠道生理学等输入对享乐喂养的作用。一个专业 该领域的差距在于了解肠道微生物组在享乐喂养中的作用。 该项目的目标是描述肠道微生物组的性别差异及其影响 关于享乐喂养。我们假设女性增加了高脂肪、美味食物的消费 与男性相比，这种现象的发生是由于女性生殖成功所驱动的保守网络。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：该项目将产生粪便微生物多样性的特征， 不同时间点雄性和雌性大鼠的成分和短链脂肪酸产量以及相关 通过单次行为经济学技术确定的高脂肪享乐喂养， 美味的奖励。 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。 a) 是否会中断 成年期肠道微生物群比雄性大鼠更能增加雌性大鼠的享乐性喂养？ b) 是否 生命早期肠道微生物组的破坏会影响成年期享乐喂养的性别差异吗？ c) 移植雄性大鼠的肠道微生物群是否会减少雌性大鼠的享乐喂养？是否 移植雌性大鼠的肠道微生物群会增加雄性大鼠的享乐喂养吗？ 2) 确定怀孕和怀孕后如何影响享乐喂养。 a) 怀孕会增加吗 雌性大鼠的享乐喂养？ b) 先前怀孕是否会增加雌性大鼠对美味食物的寻求？ 这项拟议的工作很重要，因为更好地了解肥胖的性别差异可以提供信息 个性化干预。这项工作专门为基于肠道微生物组的干预措施提供了信息。

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.