Browsing by Author "Kaur, Manpreet"

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    Effect of Cafeteria Diet Induced Obesity on Neuroinflammation in the Orbitofrontal Cortex
    (2016) Kaur, Manpreet; Borgland, Stephanie; Pittman, Quentin J.; Trang, Tuan
    Palatable food consumption is associated with obesity and induce inflammation in brain. The orbitofrontal cortex is implicated in compulsive behavior. Glial changes lead to synaptic remodeling and altered behavior. However it is not clear if metabolic changes associated with cafeteria diet consumption lead to glial changes in OFC. My study addressed this important question whether intake of cafeteria diet leads to glial changes in OFC. I observed that rats with extended access to cafeteria diet become obese, exhibited inflexible behaviour and increased GFAP and IBA1 expression in the hippocampus and the hypothalamus. Further, there was an increase observed in several proinflammatory cytokines in the hypothalamus. My work has shown that extended intake of cafeteria diet is associated with increased GFAP expression in OFC without any changes in IBA1 expression, proliferation and the levels of proinflammatory cytokines. This is the first study reporting astrocytic activation in OFC associated with compulsive food intake.