BIO

I am a second-year student from South Florida, born and raised in Connecticut. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience, on the Pre-Med track. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I hope to attend medical school and while there, continue my research involvement. Ultimately in my career, I would like to marry my interests in clinical and research medicine as a neurologist.

The relationship between binge eating and neuroinflammation

Abstract

Studies involving pre-clinical animal models have shown that chronic consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) promotes an inflammatory response in the hypothalamus that may play a causal role in obesity. Whether intermittent binge eating is also sufficient to promote neuroinflammation is currently unknown. To explore this question, we used a rodent model of binge-like eating to determine whether intermittent consumption of large (binge-like) meals promotes inflammation in hypothalamic brain regions that control food intake. Female rats were given continuous access to chow and HFD (control group) or continuous access to chow with intermittent access to HFD every fourth day (binge group). After 12 days, rats were perfused and brain tissue was collected and processed via immunohistochemistry for the presence of microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells. Preliminary findings suggest that intermittent exposure to HFD promotes binge-like eating. Analysis of brain tissue is ongoing. We hypothesize that intermittent binge-like eating in female rats will promote neuroinflammation as quantified by an increase in the number of microglia in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Such a finding would provide new evidence that intermittent overconsumption of HFD is sufficient to promote inflammation in brain areas that control food intake.

Keywords: neuroinflammation, binge eating