Sucrose solution intake and its schedule of access affect the response to chronic variable stress in mice

Abstract

There is a strong relationship between the intake of calorically-dense palatable food and stress. Moreover, intake of sodas is an important contributory factor to obesity, and is often associated with palatable food consumption. We studied the effects of 2-hour intermittent access to sucrose-sweetened water (SSW, 12.3%, soda-like) and its schedule of administration on the response to chronic variable stress in mice fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet. C57BL/6 mice received access to water or to both water and 2-hour SSW access during 5 weeks, in addition to their diet. After the first two weeks, half of the animals from each group were stressed daily using a chronic variable stress (CVS) paradigm, while the other half were kept undisturbed. During the CVS exposure period, SSW access was either scheduled randomly, right before the stressors or right after the stressor. The effects of SSW and its schedule of administration on stress hormones, adiposity and serum lipids were analyzed. Results showed that SSW access induced an increase in energy intake, body weight gain and abdominal fat as well as attenuation in the response to CVS compared to water access alone. Moreover, there was a greater stress-relieving effect when SSW was administered after exposure to the stressors, compared to random exposure and exposure before the stressors. The present study provides arguments that the availability of intermittent SSW access renders mice more resilient to the effects of CVS, particularly when SSW is provided after exposure to stress.