Effect and mechanism of high‐fat diet on the preference for sweeteners on mice

Abstract BACKGROUND Male Kunming mice were divided into a normal diet group (control group) and a high‐fat diet group (HF group) (185 g·kg −1 protein, 600 g·kg −1 fat and 205 g·kg −1 carbohydrate). After 8 weeks' feeding, behavioral indicators and biochemical indicators in serum were determined. The double‐bottle preference experiment was used to study the preferences of mice for five sweeteners. The monoamine neurotransmitter content, gene expression related to dopamine (DA), and opioid receptors were also determined. RESULTS The body weight of the mice in the HF group increased significantly ( P < 0.05) after 36 days compared with the control group. The feed intake of the HF group increased sharply in the first 12 days, and then it became basically unchanged. The preference of the HF group for all of the five sweeteners was highly significantly lower ( P < 0.01) than that of the control group. Depression‐related behavior was observed in the HF group mice. The triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) content in the HF group were very much higher ( P < 0.01) than those of the control group. The gene expression related to DA and opioid receptor in the HF group was significantly lower than that of the control group, except for preproenkephalin (PENK). CONCLUSIONS In summary, this study suggested that a long‐term high‐fat diet could result in a decrease in the preference for sweeteners and could result in a state of reward hypofunction in mice. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry