BINGE-EATING DISORDER AND VULNERABILITY TO THE

REWARDING EFFECTS OF COCAINE

M.C. Blanco-Gandía, M.P. García-Pardo, M.A. Aguilar, J. Miñarro, M. Rodríguez-Arias

1
Unit of Research on Psychobiology of Drug Dependence,, Faculty of Psychology,
Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.

The excessive intake of food has become a serious problem for our society. A specific form
of overeating is known as binge-eating, that shows a dysfunctional appetite, which is
excessive and occurs in an intermittent form. Drug addiction and binge eating disorders are
both characterized by a loss of control over consummatory behaviors, showing high
comorbidity, for example people seeking treatment for alcohol and cocaine abuse present
high rates of binge eating. Adolescence is a period of great brain plasticity, and vulnerable
stage to eating disorders and drug abuse. Animal models of binge-eating permit to clarify
similarities and differences existing between drug addiction and eating disorders.
Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of consuming a high-fat diet in a binge
pattern and its consequences on the reinforcing effects of cocaine.
A total of 30 adolescent male mice of the OF1 strain (21 postnatal days on arrival at the
laboratory) were assigned either to a standard or to a high-fat diet 2h access 3 days a week.
The escalation in consumption of the high-fat diet from the first week access and the last
week before conditioning confirmed that there was a significant escalation and therefore a
binge-eating pattern. On PND 69 the reinforcing effects of a subthreshold dose of 1mg/kg of
cocaine by Conditioning Place Preference (CPP) were evaluated.
Our results indicate that the group receiving a high-fat diet in a binge pattern showed
preference for the drug-paired compartment and developed reinstatement with 0.5mg/kg and
0.25mg/kg cocaine, while the control group did not develop preference. Therefore we
propose that an exposure to a high-fat diet binge during adolescence increases the sensitivity
to the reinforcing effects of cocaine, suggesting that dietary fat is modulating the mechanisms
of the brain reward system.