Morphological signs of neurodegenerative and inflammatory processes in the brain of rats on a high-calorie diet

Abstract

Much attention has been focused on studying the effects of obesity, particularly on the central nervous system (CNS). This study investigated the histoarchitecture of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus as well as the behavioral characteristics in male and female Wistar rats with diet-induced visceral obesity. The influence of a high-calorie diet on male and female rats reveals sex-specific changes in glial cells and the peculiarities of neurodegenerative processes in the PFC and hippocampal regions. In the context of visceral obesity, signs of depression were observed in male rats, whereas female rats showed no such signs. These results confirm the sex-specific effect of visceral obesity on the CNS.

Keywords

High-calorie diet / Visceral obesity / Rats / Prefrontal cortex / Hippocampus / Signs of inflammation and neurodegeneration

Funding

The work was supported by the State Program for Scientific Research (No.:4.1.1.5) of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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