Cross‐Sensitization to Binge Alcohol Intake Following Binge Intake of Palatable Diets

Abstract

Obesity and alcoholism, two of the most common chronic conditions in the United States, may be behaviorally linked as binge intake of palatable diets, such as diets high in fat (HFD), and binge alcohol (EtOH) intake may utilize similar neurocircuitry. We hypothesized that binge intake of one modality (i.e. HFD) may sensitize the shared neurocircuitry to further activation by another modality (i.e. EtOH). Therefore, we combined a binge HFD intake model in mice where HFD access is limited to one 24hr session per week (Limited Access HFD: LAH) with a patterned EtOH access schedule that also promotes binge‐like intake in a two‐bottle choice model (Limited Access EtOH: LAE; 4hrs/day, 4days/wk). Control mice were given the same EtOH access schedule but were given continuous ad libitum access to HFD (60% calories from fat) or control Chow diet (10% calories from fat). Six‐week old male C57Bl/6J mice were weight matched, individually housed, and assigned to HFD+LAE, Chow+LAE, or LAH+LAE groups (n=10 per group). All groups of mice were given increasing EtOH concentrations over the course of the study (10% EtOH for three weeks, 15% EtOH for two weeks, and 20% EtOH for two weeks). Body mass was measured daily while EtOH/water intake and EtOH preference were assessed after every drinking session. Over the course of the study, HFD+LAE mice gained significantly more weight than Chow+LAE or LAH+LAE mice (p=0.001; one‐way ANOVA). While weight gain was predominantly linear in HFD+LAE and Chow+LAE mice, LAH+LAE mice showed weight cycling indicating a binge‐like eating pattern. LAH+LAE mice consumed significantly more EtOH than Chow+LAE or HFD+LAE mice (p=0.001, repeated measures two‐way ANOVA), suggesting that binge intake of HFD led to increased binge EtOH intake patterns in LAH mice. LAH+LAE and Chow+LAE mice showed higher preference towards EtOH than HFD+LAE mice (p=0.001, repeated measures two‐way ANOVA). Together, these results suggest limited access to palatable diets induce binge‐like eating patterns that further cross‐sensitize to binge alcohol intake and mitigates the loss of alcohol preference in mice given continuous HFD.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.