Abstracts - Association for Chemoreception Sciences

#P181 POSTER SESSION IV:
CHEMICAL SIGNALING AND BEHAVIOR;
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR/PSYCHOPHYSICS;
CHEMOSENSATION AND METABOLISM;
VOMERONSASAL AND CHEMICAL
COMMUNICATION
#P182 POSTER SESSION IV:
CHEMICAL SIGNALING AND BEHAVIOR;
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR/PSYCHOPHYSICS;
CHEMOSENSATION AND METABOLISM;
VOMERONSASAL AND CHEMICAL
COMMUNICATION
Differences in food cue reactivity between normal weight
and overweight individuals?
Harriët F.A. Zoon 1 , Wei He 1,2 , Rene A. de Wijk 2 , Cees de Graaf 1 ,
Sanne Boesveldt 1
1
Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University Wageningen,
Netherlands, 2 Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen UR
Wageningen, Netherlands
Overweight occurs when energy intake exceeds energy
expenditure over the long term. Overweight people have been
suggested to be more sensitive to rewarding effects of food (e.g.
Davis et al., 2004; Franken & Muris, 2005). In the anticipatory
phase of eating, odors can be considered as external cues that
signal the energy content and hence the reward value of a food.
In overweight individuals internal hunger signals are thought
to be overruled by external food cues (Herman & Polivy, 2008).
This study aims to determine if food cue reactivity is higher in
overweight compared to normal weight individuals. Frequency
of choice for energy-dense food items and amount of food intake
reflect food cue reactivity. 25 overweight (BMI mean: 31.33 kg/
m2, SD: 3.36) and 25 normal weight (BMI mean: 21.84 kg/
m2, SD: 1.78) females, matched on age and restraint score,
participated. In 6 separate sessions they were exposed to odors
of three different categories (signaling non-food, high-energy
food, low-energy food) in two motivational states (hungry
and satiated). High-energy preference was measured with a
computerized forced choice task and food intake (kCal) was
determined with the use of a Bogus Taste Test. We hypothesize
that increased food cue reactivity in overweight women is
demonstrated by a stronger tendency to choose high-energy food
products after being exposed to high-energy food odors, and
may subsequently lead to more food intake compared to lean
individuals. However, preliminary results (N=28) indicate that
there is no main effect of odor on high-energy food preference
(p=0.755) and also no interaction effect between odor and BMI
group (p=0.935). Our first results on food intake (N=48) indicate
no main effect of odor (p= 0.792) and no interaction effect
of odor and BMI group (p=0.323). Acknowledgements: This
study was funded by NWO (The Netherlands Organization for
Scientific Research), Veni grant nr. 451-11-021, awarded to SB.
Development of Viral Based Gene Delivery for Conditional
Ablation of Specific Brain Peptidergic Neurons
Ali Magableh, Robert Lundy
University of Louisville School of Medicine/Anatomical Sciences and
Neurobiology Louisville, KY, USA
Learning plays a crucial role in the establishment and
strengthening of food preference and we hypothesize that
specific limbic system neuropeptide pathways play an important
role. Identifying neural mechanisms that mediate affective
aspects of taste perception will further our understanding
of how the brain controls eating and overeating. We have
identified two neuropeptides, corticotrophin releasing factor
(CRF) and somatostatin (Sst), which are expressed in limbic
system neurons that project to a hindbrain neural substrate
critical for establishment of gustatory hedonic value; the pontine
parabrachial nucleus. Our goal is to develop a viral construct
capable of directing conditional expression of nitroreductase
gene (NTR) to Sst and CRF cell populations in the limbic
system of mice using a cre/lox system. Thus, specific peptide
producing neurons can be rapidly ablated in isolation following
treatment with the prodrug CB1954 allowing assessment of
their role in central taste processing and taste-guided behaviors.
In vitro cell culture of HEK293 cells combined with FLOW
cytometric analysis indicate that we can conditionally express
NTR and cause cell death following CB1954 treatment.
Acknowledgements: This research work was supported by a
grant from the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation as
per Grant Agreement #KSEF-148-502-11-277 with the Kentucky
Science and Technology Corporation.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Abstracts are printed as submitted by the author(s).
98