A Methyl-Balanced Diet Prevents CRF-Induced Prenatal Stress-Triggered Predisposition to Binge Eating-like Phenotype

Publication date: Available online 30 May 2017
Source:Cell Metabolism
Author(s): Mariana Schroeder, Mira Jakovcevski, Tamar Polacheck, Maya Lebow, Yonat Drori, Mareen Engel, Shifra Ben-Dor, Alon Chen
Binge eating (BE) is a common aberrant form of eating behavior, characterized by overconsumption of food in a brief period of time. Recurrent episodes of BE constitute the BE disorder, which mostly affects females and is associated with early-life adversities. Here, we show that corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)-induced prenatal stress (PNS) in late gestation predisposes female offspring to BE-like behavior that coincides with hypomethylation of hypothalamic miR-1a and downstream dysregulation of the melanocortin system through Pax7/Pax3. Moreover, exposing the offspring to a methyl-balanced diet during adolescence prevents the dysregulation and predisposition from being triggered. We demonstrate that gestational programming, per se, will not lead to BE-like behavior, but pre-existing alterations due to prenatal programming are revealed only when challenged during adolescence. We provide experimental evidence for long-term epigenetic abnormalities stemming from PNS in predisposing female offspring to BE disorder as well as a potential non-invasive prevention strategy.

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Teaser

Binge eating seems to mostly affect females. Schroeder et al. show that that late gestation prenatal stress rewires neural circuits in female mice, leading to binge-like behavior, if triggered during adolescence. Remarkably, this predisposition to binge eating can be prevented by a balanced, methyl-rich diet.


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