The effects of high-fat diet consumption on the reproductive behavior and hypothalamic homeostasis in female and male mice

• Grant number: 22/03416-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2022
• End date: March 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - General Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Licio Augusto Velloso
• Grantee: Ana Laura de Oliveira Carvalho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07607-8 - OCRC - Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Caloric intake and reproduction are closely linked and are essential for the maintenance of life and survival. The regulation of food intake and energy expenditure is due to the signaling of the nutritional status arising from the production of peripheral hormones, such as the production of insulin by the pancreas and leptin by white adipose tissue. Such hormones are recognized by hypothalamic neuronal populations, including POMC and AgRP neurons, related to energy balance. Other hypothalamic neuronal populations, for example, Kiss1 and GnRH neurons, are responsible for the behavior and sexual maturation and are also affected by the mentioned hormones, modulating reproductive behavior, especially hormone production sexual. Disorders in the reproductive axis can occur due to the disorders and consequently to the nutritional imbalance, in the same way, the opposite mechanism also occurs. Therefore, the nutritional status of the organism has a strong impact on its reproductive capacity. Furthermore, obesity is one of the main eating disorders, and one of its causes is the consumption of highly energetic, rich in saturated fat, exceeding energy expenditure. Therefore, this work intends to elucidate how a high-fat diet affects markers related to reproduction and food intake in mice males and females submitted to the ingestion of a high-fat diet in different development periods. (AU)