Impact of adolescent high-fat diet and psychosocial stress on neuroendocrine stress responses and binge eating behavior in adult male Lewis rats

Childhood obesity is a multifactorial disease affecting >160 million adolescents worldwide. Adolescent exposure to obesogenic environments, characterized by access to high-fat diets and stress, precipitates maladaptive eating habits in adulthood such as binge eating. Evidence suggests a strong association between Western-like high–saturated fat (WD) food consumption and dysregulated hormone fluctuations. However, few studies have explored the long-term impact of adolescent WD and psychosocial stress on brain and behavior. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the impact of adolescent exposure to an obesogenic diet on stress resiliency and increased susceptibility for binge-like eating behaviors. Adolescent male Lewis rats were given WD (41% fat; n = 40) or control diet (CD, 16% fat; n = 38) for 4 weeks before undergoing a stress protocol of predator exposure and social instability (CDE, WDE, CDU, WDU; n = 16/group). Subjects were provided intermittent WD access (24 h/week) to evaluate binge-like eating behavior in adulthood. Fecal corticosterone and testosterone were measured at four timepoints throughout adolescence and adulthood. WD rats exhibited increased body weight (p = 0.0217) and elevated testosterone in mid-adolescence (p = 0.0312) and blunted stress-induced corticosterone response in mid-late adolescence (CDE:WDE, p = 0.028). Adolescent hormone levels were negatively correlated with binging and explained the variability between adult rats expressing hyperphagic and hypophagic behaviors. These results demonstrate that exposure to WD in adolescence disrupts hormone fluctuations and stress responsivity, with effects persisting into adulthood. This underscores the importance of addressing obesogenic environments early to mitigate their lasting impact on hormone regulation and stress responsiveness.