Adolescent high-fructose corn syrup consumption contributes to protracted dysregulation of adult accumbal neuroinflammation and affective behaviors.

Adolescence is an important period of neurodevelopment often accompanied by escalated consumption of added sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Data from our lab suggests that overconsumption of HFCS during adolescence contributes to deficits in learning and motivation, as well as increases in depression which persists in adulthood. The present study aimed to assess whether neuroinflammation contributed to persistent changes in affective behaviors following adolescent HFCS overconsumption. Males but not female Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to HFCS during the adolescent period, exhibited dysregulation of both accumbal C-Reactive protein and Interleukin-6 in adulthood. Further, alterations in neuroinflammatory proteins were observed at earlier timepoints while HFCS was still being administered. Behaviorally, pharmacological inhibition of neuroinflammation by minocycline occluded HFCS-dependent increases in immobility time on a forced swim paradigm but was unable to circumvent increases in open-arm time on an elevated plus maze. Taken together, these data suggest that adolescent HFCS-overconsumption contributes to dysregulation of accumbal neuroinflammatory proteins. Further, neuroinflammation may underlie alterations in affective behaviors which persist following cessation of HFCS-exposure.