Behavioral and hormonal responses to stress in binge-like eating prone female rats

Binge eating episodes are frequently stimulated by stress. We developed a model of binge eating proneness based on individual sensitivity of young female Sprague Dawley rats to significantly increase sucrose consumption in response to stress. The rats were subjected to unpredictable intermittent 1-h access to 10% sucrose. After the stabilization of sucrose intake, rats were assessed for consistency of higher (for binge-like eating prone, BEP) or lower (for binge-like eating resistant, BER) sucrose intake in response to unpredictable episodes of foot-shock stress. The objectives of this study included demonstrating face validity of the BEP model and determining if some of the features of this model were pre-existing before exposure to intermittent access to sucrose and repeated stress. The BEP rats consumed a larger (20%>BER) amount of sucrose in a discrete (1-h) period of time compared to the BER phenotype in non-stressful conditions and significantly increased sucrose intake (50%>BER) under stress. Conversely, stress did not affect sucrose intake in BER rats. BEP rats showed higher sucrose intake compared to BER rats at the beginning of darkness as well as during the light period when they were sated and not physically hungry. Analyses of the sucrose licking microstructure revealed that BEP rats had a high motivational drive to consume sucrose in non-stressful condition and an increased hedonic value of sucrose when they were exposed to stressful conditions. BEP rats consumed sucrose much more rapidly under stressful conditions compared to BER rats. Finally, BEP rats demonstrated compulsive-like intake of sucrose (assessed in the light-dark box) and a blunted stress-induced increase in plasma corticosterone levels. Body weight and chow intake were not different between the phenotypes. Before exposure to intermittent access to sucrose and repeated stress, the BEP rats showed no clear evidence for compulsive sucrose intake. However, from the first 1-h access to sucrose, the BEP rats exhibited sucrose overeating; and from the first exposure to stress before intermittent access to sucrose, the BEP rats showed a blunted increase in corticosterone plasma levels. Innate sucrose hyperconsumption and altered reactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis to stress may be involved in the development of binge-like eating. Increased perceived hedonic value of palatable food and an increased motivation to consume this food despite aversive conditions as well as deregulated reactivity of the HPA axis may contribute to stress-induced bingeing on sucrose in BEP rats.