Social status predicts response to dietary cycling in female rhesus monkeys

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Kaitlyn M. Roman, Emory University; Mark Wilson, Emory University; Vasiliki Michopoulos, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-01-01
• Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.07.019
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: APPETITE
• Volume: 132
• Start Page: 230
• End Page: 237
• Grant/Funding Information: The study was supported by NIH grants DK096983 (MW), K12 HD085850 (VM), and, in part, ORIP/OD P51OD011132 (YNPRC).
• Keywords: Nutrition & Dietetics; Science & Technology; Behavioral Sciences; HIGH-FAT DIET; REWARD; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; STRESS; GENE-EXPRESSION; DRUG-ADDICTION; Food intake; WEIGHT-LOSS; Diet cycling; PALATABLE CAFETERIA DIET; Social status; CORTICOTROPIN-RELEASING-FACTOR; INTERMITTENT ACCESS; Body weight; Psychosocial stress; PREFERRED FOOD; Female monkeys
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Psychology, Social; Sociology, Public and Social Welfare; Health Sciences, Nutrition

Abstract

With the prevalence of obesity among women the United States surpassing 40%, it is critical to understand how environmental factors influence appetite, body fat accumulation, and the ability to lose weight and maintain weight loss. Psychosocial stress exposure is a risk factor for increased consumption of calorically dense diets (CDD), which are high in fat and sugars and promote both increased food intake and weight gain. However, it remains unclear how appetite is affected by psychosocial factors when people striving to lose weight restrict intake of unhealthy, calorically dense foods. Using a translational non-human primate model of chronic psychosocial stressor exposure in females (n = 16), mediated by social subordination, we examined ad libitum food intake, weight change, and social behavior during three consecutive, 15-week dietary conditions: 1) obesogenic, dietary choice; 2) chow-only; and 3) a switch back to dietary choice. Data showed that a choice dietary environment that includes both chow and CDD promotes increased calorie consumption of CDD in subordinate female rhesus monkeys during the baseline choice and back-to-choice phases (p = 0.016). Removal of the CDD during the chow-only phase resulted in mild inappetence (p = 0.005) and a loss in body weight (p < 0.001) in subordinate females. Reintroduction of the CDD to subordinate, but not dominant, females was associated with increased calorie intake that surpassed baseline intake (p < 0.001), and greater body weight gain (p = 0.026). There were no effects of diet cycling on total food intake and body weight change in dominant females (p's > 0.05). Overall, our results suggest that adverse psychosocial experience is associated with increased preference for highly palatable, calorically dense food in a choice dietary environment.