Dietary supplementation with fish oil prevents high fat diet-induced enhancement of sensitivity to the behavioral effects of quinpirole

Behav Pharmacol. 2017 Sep;28(6):477-484. doi: 10.1097/FBP.0000000000000322.

Abstract

Eating a diet high in fat can lead to negative health consequences, including obesity and insulin resistance. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as those found in fish oil) prevent high fat diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in rats. Eating a high fat diet also enhances sensitivity of rats to the behavioral effects of drugs that act on dopamine systems (e.g. quinpirole, a dopamine D2/D3 receptor agonist). To test the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with fish oil prevents high fat diet-induced enhanced sensitivity to the behavioral effects of quinpirole (0.0032-0.32 mg/kg), male rats ate standard laboratory chow, high fat chow, standard chow with fish oil, or high fat chow with fish oil (20% w/w). After 5 weeks, rats eating high fat chow were more sensitive (e.g. leftward shift of the quinpirole dose-response curve) than rats eating standard chow to yawning induced by quinpirole. Dietary supplementation with fish oil prevented this effect. That is, quinpirole dose-response curves were not different between rats eating high fat chow supplemented with fish oil and standard chow fed controls. These data add to a growing literature showing the complex relationship between diet and dopamine systems, and the health benefits of fish oil.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / drug effects
  • Body Weight / drug effects
  • Diet, High-Fat
  • Dietary Fats
  • Dietary Supplements
  • Dopamine Agonists / pharmacology
  • Eating / drug effects
  • Fish Oils / pharmacology*
  • Fish Oils / therapeutic use
  • Insulin Resistance / physiology
  • Male
  • Obesity
  • Quinpirole / metabolism
  • Quinpirole / pharmacology*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Receptors, Dopamine D2 / agonists
  • Receptors, Dopamine D3 / agonists
  • Yawning / drug effects

Substances

  • Dietary Fats
  • Dopamine Agonists
  • Fish Oils
  • Receptors, Dopamine D2
  • Receptors, Dopamine D3
  • Quinpirole