Adolescent food restriction in rats alters prefrontal cortex microglia in an experience-dependent manner

AbstractMicroglia are resident immune cells of the brain that can regulate neural communication and excitability. Any environmental influence on microglial activity has the potential to alter subsequent neural physiology and behavior. Within the prefrontal cortex, several types of stressors have been shown to increase microglial expression of activation markers such as ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 (Iba-1), which suggests altered microglial activity. Recent reports in rodents suggest that exposure to forms of early-life stress such as maternal separation can alter microglial responsivity to subsequent challenges. Several learning paradigms used in rodents require food restriction to provoke motivational states that facilitate approach behaviors. Here, we tested whether food restriction (increasing from 13 g/day–23 g/day in males and 10 g/day–20 g/day in females, which reduced body weight to 72–84% free-fed weight) in adolescent rats is a sufficient challenge to affect microglial Iba-1 express...