Dietary manipulations influence sucrose acceptance in diet induced obese mice

The current studies examined the influence of a high fat diet on sucrose acceptance in diet induced obese (DIO) mice. C57BL/6J mice were placed on either a 45 kcal% fat diet (group DIO), or a control 10% kcal fat diet (group control) for 12 weeks followed by sucrose consumption tests and dietary manipulations. After 12 weeks exposure, body weights of DIO mice significantly exceeded those of the control mice. During subsequent sucrose consumption tests, DIO mice showed suppression in the total number of licks relative to controls. In a second experiment, consumption tests with water and a variety of sucrose concentrations revealed a hypophagic phenotype in naïve DIO mice. Licking microstructure analyses were conducted on the licking behavior of all mice, which revealed a reduction in burst size and number for DIO mice. Subsequently, we examined whether 10 days exposure to regular lab chow would alter sucrose consumption and taste evaluation in DIO mice. As a result of this dietary switch, all mice showed comparable licking behavior suggesting that exposure to the high-fat diet and diet-induced obesity may reduce preferences for other tastants in C57BL/6J mice.