Researchers identify neuronal mechanisms that control food cravings
during pregnancy
Dopamine and compulsive eating behavior

Date:
April 4, 2022
Source:
University of Barcelona
Summary:
Many people have felt the sudden and uncontrollable urge to eat a
certain food. These urges --known as cravings-- are very common,
especially during pregnancy. During this time, the mother's body
undergoes a series of physiological and behavioral changes to create
a favorable environment for the embryo's development. However, the
frequent consumption of tasty and high calorie foods -- derived
from the cravings -- contributes to weight gain and obesity in
pregnancy, which can have negative effects on the baby's health.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Many people have felt the sudden and uncontrollable urge to eat a
certain food.

These urges -- known as cravings -- are very common, mostly during
pregnancy.

During this time, the mother's body undergoes a series of physiological
and behavioural changes to create a favourable environment for the
embryo's development. However, the frequent consumption of tasty and
high calorie foods -- derived from the cravings -- contributes to weight
gain and obesity in pregnancy, which can have negative effects on the
baby's health.


========================================================================== "There are many myths and popular beliefs regarding these cravings,
although the neuronal mechanisms that cause them are not widely
known," notes March Claret, lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and
Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona and head of the IDIBAPS
Neuronal Control of Metabolism Group. Claret leads, together with the researcher Roberta Haddad-To'volli, a study published in the journal
Nature Metabolism that provides new evidence on the alterations of the
neuronal activity that drive cravings in an animal model.

Dopamine and compulsive eating behaviour According to the results,
during pregnancy, the brain of female mice undergoes changes in the
functional connections of the brain reward circuits, as well as the taste
and sensorimotor centers. Moreover, just like pregnant women, female
mice are more sensitive to sweet food, and they develop binge-eating
behaviours towards high calorie foods. "The alteration of these structures
made us explore the mesolimbic pathway, one of the signal transmission
pathways of dopaminergic neurons. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter
in motivational behaviours," notes Claret, member of the Department of
Medicine of the UB and the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBERDEM).

The team observed the levels of dopamine -- and the activity of its
receptor, D2R -- to increase in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region
involved in the reward circuit. "This finding suggests that the pregnancy induces a full reorganization of the mesolimbic neural circuits through
the D2R neurons," notes Haddad-To'volli. "These neuronal cells --
and their alteration -- would be responsible for the cravings, since
food anxiety, typical during pregnancy, disappeared after blocking
their activity." The team led by Claret and Haddad-To'volli showed that persistent cravings have consequences for the offspring. They affect the metabolism and development of neural circuits that regulate food intake,
which leads to weight gain, anxiety and eating disorders. "These results
are shocking, since many of the studies are focused on the analysis
of how the mother's permanent habits -- such as obesity, malnutrition,
or chronic stress -- affect the health of the baby.

However, this study indicates that short but recurrent behaviours, such
as cravings, are enough to increase the psychological and metabolic vulnerability of the offspring," concludes Claret.

The conclusions of the study could contribute to the improvement of
nutritional guidelines for pregnant women in order to ensure a proper
prenatal nutrition and prevent the development of diseases. Among the participants in the study were Guadalupe Soria and Emma Mun~oz-Moreno (IDIBAPS), Anali'a Bortolozzi (IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS) and Emmanuel Valjent
(INSERM and University of Montpelier).

This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC),
given to Marc Claret, and a grant from the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions program, given to the researcher Roberta Haddad-To'volli.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Barcelona. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Haddad-To'volli, R.; Rami'rez, S.; Mun~oz-Moreno, E.; Mila`-Guasch,
M.;
Miquel-Rio, L.; Pozo, M.; Chivite, I.; Altirriba, J.; Obri,
A.; Go'mez- Valade's, A.; Toledo, M.; Eyre, E.; Bortolozzi, A.;
Valjent, E.; Soria, G.; Claret, M. Food craving-like episodes during
pregnancy are mediated by accumbal dopaminergic circuits. Nature
Metabolism, 2022 DOI: 10.1038/ s42255-022-00557-1 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220404130626.htm

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