The neurocircuitry underlying hunger, satiety, motivation to eat and food reward is complex, however a lot of mechanisms are still unknown. Two main cerebral areas are responsible for controlling feeding through hunger and food reward: the hypothalamus (HPT) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA), respectively. The dopaminergic system modulates both these areas and is essential to control food ingestion. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the effects of restrictive and hyperlipidic diets during pregnancy, lactation and during adult life of the offspring, on the expression of dopaminergic system genes in VTA and HPT of mice dams and their adult male offspring. We also measured diets’ effect in locomotor activity in the open field (OF) test. Female mice were divided into control (CONT), restriction (RD) and hyperlipidic (HD) dietary groups, and mated with isogenic male mice. On the 9th postpartum day (PPD), dams were tested in the OF, and on the 22nd PPD cerebral areas were collected. After weaning, the offspring also were divided into one of three diet groups, independently of the diets provided to their dams. In the 80th PPD, the offspring was tested in the OF, and at 100th PPD, VTA and HPT were collected. Gene expression was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction. The correlation between gene expression and locomotor activity was also assessed. In dams’ VTA, both diets upregulated the expression of Th, Slc6a3/Dat1, Drd1 and Drd2 genes. In opposition, in the offspring the maternal diet was associated with a reduction in Th and Ddc gene expression. In the HPT, mice dams that received restriction or hyperlipidic diets had increased Th mRNA levels, but reduced the expression of Drd4 gene. The offspring diet had no effect on the expression of the studied genes in their adult lives. Both diets increased mice dam’s locomotion in the OF, however none of them altered the offspring locomotor activity. We detected a positive correlation between the duration of total locomotion in the OF and Slc6a3/Dat1 gene expression in VTA of mice dams. In the HPT, a negative correlation of locomotion and Drd4 mRNA levels, and a positive correlation with Th gene expression was observed. Our results show that restriction and hyperlipidic diets alter mice dams’ locomotor activity in the OF and modify the expression of dopaminergic system genes in VTA and HPT of mice dams and in VTA of the offspring.

饥饿、饱腹感、进食动机和食物奖励背后的神经回路是复杂的，但许多机制仍然未知。两个主要的大脑区域负责通过饥饿和食物奖励来控制进食：分别是下丘脑 (HPT) 和腹侧被盖区 (VTA)。多巴胺能系统调节这两个区域，对控制食物摄入至关重要。因此，我们旨在评估在妊娠、哺乳期和后代成年期间限制性和高脂饮食对小鼠水坝及其成年雄性后代 VTA 和 HPT 中多巴胺能系统基因表达的影响。我们还在旷场 (OF) 测试中测量了饮食对运动活动的影响。雌性小鼠分为对照（CONT）、限制（RD）和高脂（HD）饮食组，并与同基因雄性小鼠交配。在产后第 9 天 (PPD)，在 OF 中测试水坝，并在第 22 天收集脑区。断奶后，后代也被分为三个饮食组之一，独立于提供给它们的母猪的饮食。在第 80 次 PPD 中，在 OF 中测试后代，并在第 100 次 PPD 时收集 VTA 和 HPT。通过定量逆转录实时聚合酶链反应分析基因表达。还评估了基因表达和运动活动之间的相关性。在大坝的 VTA 中，两种饮食都上调了 独立于提供给它们的水坝的饮食。在第 80 次 PPD 中，在 OF 中测试后代，并在第 100 次 PPD 时收集 VTA 和 HPT。通过定量逆转录实时聚合酶链反应分析基因表达。还评估了基因表达和运动活动之间的相关性。在大坝的 VTA 中，两种饮食都上调了 独立于提供给它们的水坝的饮食。在第 80 次 PPD 中，在 OF 中测试后代，并在第 100 次 PPD 时收集 VTA 和 HPT。通过定量逆转录实时聚合酶链反应分析基因表达。还评估了基因表达和运动活动之间的相关性。在大坝的 VTA 中，两种饮食都上调了Th、Slc6a3/Dat1、Drd1和Drd2基因。相反，在后代中，母体饮食与Th和Ddc基因表达的减少有关。在 HPT 中，接受限制性饮食或高脂饮食的小鼠水坝增加了Th mRNA 水平，但降低了Drd4基因的表达。后代饮食对其成年生活中所研究基因的表达没有影响。两种饮食都增加了小鼠在 OF 中的运动，但是它们都没有改变后代的运动活动。我们检测到 OF 和Slc6a3/Dat1的总运动持续时间之间存在正相关小鼠水坝 VTA 中的基因表达。在 HPT 中，运动和Drd4 mRNA 水平呈负相关，与Th基因表达呈正相关。我们的结果表明，限制饮食和高脂饮食会改变小鼠大坝在 OF 中的运动活性，并改变小鼠大坝 VTA 和 HPT 以及后代 VTA 中多巴胺能系统基因的表达。