Avaliação dos efeitos comportamentais da retirada da sacarose em curto e longo prazo em ratas adolescentes

Abstract

Sugar (sucrose) is a highly flavorful and rewarding substance. Its consumption usually causes sensations, such as an improvement in mood and a decrease in agitation. Physiologically, the ingestion of highly palatable foods increases dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and the decrease in dopamine signaling leads to reduced activity in this region, which can happen in anxiety-related behaviors. The present study tested the hypothesis that sucrose withdrawal after prolonged exposure would favor anxietyrelated behaviors in adolescent females. Adolescent rats (30 days) were treated with sucrose at a concentration of 5% free choice for 16 days, with the exception of the control group, which was exposed only to water. After 16 days, sucrose was replaced by water according to two protocols. For the Short-term Withdrawal group, sucrose was replaced by water for 48h-72h prior to testing. For the Long-term Withdrawal group, sucrose was replaced by water for 21-22 days. After the withdrawal period, the animals were taken to the elevated plus maze and open field behavioral tests. In the elevated plus-maze, the long-term withdrawal group had its exploration time reduced compared to the control group (treated with water only) and continuous sucrose. The long-term withdrawal group entered the closed arms more often compared to the control and short-term withdrawal groups. In the open field, there was no treatment effect on the three parameters analyzed during the first five minutes of the test: number of entries into the center, time spent in the center and distance covered in the center. In conclusion, long-term sucrose withdrawal produces anxious-like behaviors and increases locomotion in the elevated plus-maze. More studies should be carried out to understand the neural bases involved with anxiety in sucrose withdrawal.