STRESS RESPONSIVITY IN FEMALE CYNOMOLGUS MACAQUES (MACACA FASCICULARIS) CONSUMING WESTERN VERSUS MEDITERRANEAN DIET |
C. A. Shively, S. E. Appt, M. Z. Vitolins, B. Uberseder, S. M. Day, M. G. Silverstein-Metzler and T. C. Register
Department of Epidemiology & Prevention, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Dept Pathology, Comparative Medicine, Medical Center Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1040, USA |
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| We tested the hypothesis that Western (WEST) diet exacerbates, whereas Mediterranean (MED) diet ameliorates physiological stress responses. After a 7-month baseline, socially housed female cynomolgus macaques were fed a WEST (n=21) or a MED (n=17) diet for 31 months. Social status was determined monthly; social behavior was recorded 2X/week during 10 min focal samples. BP, 24 hour heart rates, cortisol (basal, in response to ACTH challenge, and to acute stress), were determined. 2 (dominant, subordinate) X 2 (WEST, MED) ANOVAs were conducted. There were no effects of diet or diet-status interactions on behavior (p’s>0.10). Subordinates received more aggression (p<0.0001), less grooming (p=0.027), and spent more time fearfully scanning (p=0.015) than dominants. Subordinates decreased and dominants increased SBP after 26 months (p=0.038). Heart rates in the MED group spiked sharply at meals (fed individually), and recovered significantly in between, whereas peaks/recoveries were less apparent in the WEST group (MED p=0.0008; WEST p=0.06). In the WEST group basal cortisol concentrations were lower in subordinates than dominants (p=0.006), but higher in subordinates than dominants in the MED group (p=0.01). The cortisol response to acute stress was lower in the MED than the WEST group (p=0.007). The WEST group had a greater cortisol response to ACTH than the MED group (p=0.02). Thus, WEST diet consumption may deleteriously impact health in part by exaggerating stress responses. Supported by NIH HL087103. |
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