Undernutrition during pregnancy and lactation increases the number of fos-cells in the reward system in response to a 5-HT6 receptor agonist in male adolescent rats.

Undernutrition promotes morphofunctional adaptations in neuroanatomical circuits, leading to behavioural changes. Adolescence is a period of vulnerability for these adaptations, such as the control of food intake and the serotonergic system. The serotonergic system is capable of promoting satiety.

Low protein diet during gestation and lactation increases food reward seeking but does not modify sucrose taste reactivity in adult female rats.

Introduction: Nutritional deficiencies during neural development may lead to irreversible changes, even after nutritional rehabilitation, promoting morphological and functional adaptations of structures involved with various behaviours including feeding behaviour. However, the ability of the exposure low protein diet during gestation and lactation to affect the hedonic component of food intake is still poorly understood, especially in females.

Methods: Wistar rats were divided into two groups according to the diet offered to the dams during pregnancy and lactation: control female (CF; diet with 17% protein, n=7) and low protein female (LPF; diet with 8% protein, n=7).