Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Mar;23(3):e13399.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13399. Epub 2021 Nov 22.

Obesogenic diets induce anxiety in rodents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Thomas D Clark  1 , Angela J Crean  1 , Alistair M Senior  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Obesogenic diets induce anxiety in rodents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Thomas D Clark et al. Obes Rev. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Obesity and mood disorders have been linked in a positive feedback loop. However, due to the bidirectional relationship between obesity and mental health, it is not clear whether anxiety is correlated with or caused by consumption of obesogenic diets. Here, we present a meta-analysis on the effects of dietary manipulation on rodent behavior in the elevated plus maze and open field test, the most common tests of anxiety-like behavior in animal models. The main dataset examined effects of obesogenic diets on time spent in the open and movement around the mazes. Auxiliary datasets examined effects of caloric restriction and protein restriction. Obesogenic diets had a negative effect on the time spent in the open overall. Effects were stronger in males than females. No effect of diet on locomotion was found, indicating that increases in anxiety-like behavior are not due to altered activity levels. No consistent effect of caloric restriction was observed, whereas protein restriction was associated with an increase in the time spent in the open. We show that obesogenic diets have a causative effect on anxiety-like behaviors in rodents, and not via a change in activity. Further studies are required to determine why obesogenic diets induce these behavioral changes.

Keywords: behavior; mental health; nutrition; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Lega IC, Lipscombe LL. Review: Diabetes, obesity, and cancer-pathophysiology and clinical implications. Endocr Rev. 2019;41:33-52.
    1. Koliaki C, Liatis S, Kokkinos A. Obesity and cardiovascular disease: revisiting an old relationship. Metabolism. 2019;92:98-107.
    1. Avila C, Holloway AC, Hahn MK, et al. An overview of links between obesity and mental health. Curr Obes Rep. 2015;4(3):303-310.
    1. Morris MJ, Beilharz JE, Maniam J, Reichelt AC, Westbrook RF. Why is obesity such a problem in the 21st century? The intersection of palatable food, cues and reward pathways, stress, and cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2015;58:36-45.
    1. Park E, Kim JY, Lee JH, Jahng JW. Increased depression-like behaviors with dysfunctions in the stress axis and the reward center by free access to highly palatable food. Neuroscience. 2014;262:31-39.

Publication types