Consumption of palatable foods high in refined carbohydrate has been implicated as a contributing factor to the epidemic levels of obesity. Such foods may disrupt appetite regulation in the hypothalamus through alterations in hunger and satiety signalling. This investigation examined whether a palatable high refined carbohydrate (HRC) diet with the potential to induce obesity was linked to modulation of serotonin and dopamine signalling within the hypothalamus of rats. Male Wistar rats were allowed ad libitum access to either a palatable refined carbohydrate enriched (HRC) diet or standard chow (SC). Visceral fat percentage was used as a measure of the animals' weight gain during the trial. Real-time PCR was applied to determine any variation in levels of expression of the serotonin (Slc6A4 or Sert) and dopamine transporter (Slc6A3 or Dat) genes. After 29 weeks, the HRC group showed a significant increase in visceral fat percentage accompanied by increased expression of Sert. Higher levels of circulating triglycerides were also seen. This investigation determined that a refined high carbohydrate diet is associated with visceral obesity, increased circulating lipids in the blood and distorted serotonergic signalling, which possibly alters satiety and hunger signals.

中文翻译：

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精致的高碳水化合物饮食与5-羟色胺途径和内脏肥胖症的改变有关。

食用富含精制碳水化合物的可口食品已被认为是肥胖病流行水平的重要因素。这些食物可能会通过饥饿和饱腹感信号的改变而破坏下丘脑的食欲调节。这项研究检查了可诱发肥胖的美味高精碳水化合物（HRC）饮食是否与大鼠下丘脑内5-羟色胺和多巴胺信号传导的调节有关。允许雄性Wistar大鼠随意享用可口的精制富含碳水化合物（HRC）的饮食或标准食物（SC）。在试验过程中，内脏脂肪百分比被用作衡量动物体重增加的指标。应用实时PCR来确定5-羟色胺（Slc6A4或Sert）和多巴胺转运蛋白（Slc6A3或Dat）基因表达水平的任何变化。29周后，HRC组显示内脏脂肪百分比显着增加，同时Sert表达增加。还发现较高水平的循环甘油三酸酯。这项研究确定，精制的高碳水化合物饮食与内脏肥胖，血液中循环脂质增加和血清素能信号传递异常有关，这可能会改变饱腹感和饥饿信号。