Breaking It Down: Investigation of Binge Eating Components in Animal Models to Enhance Translation

Abstract

Binge eating (BE) is a core eating disorder behavior that is present across nearly all eating disorder diagnoses (e. g., bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, anorexia nervosa binge/purge subtype), and is also widely present in the general population. Despite the prevalence of BE, limited treatment options exist and there are often high rates of relapse after treatment. There is evidence showing that genetic factors contribute to the heritability of BE and support for biological contributions to BE. However, more work is needed to fully understand neurobiological mechanisms underlying BE. One approach to target this problem is to separate BE into its distinct clinical components that can be more easily modeled using pre-clinical approaches. To date, a variety of animal models for BE have been used in pre-clinical studies; but there have been challenges translating this work to human BE. Here, we review these pre-clinical approaches by breaking them down into three clinically-significant component parts (1) consumption of a large amount of food; (2) food consumption within a short period of time; and (3) loss of control over eating. We propose that this rubric identifies the most frequently used and effective ways to model components of BE behavior using pre-clinical approaches with the strongest clinical relevance. Finally, we discuss how current pre-clinical models have been integrated with techniques using targeted neurobiological approaches and propose ways to improve translation of pre-clinical work to human investigations of BE that could enhance our understanding of BE behavior.

Comparison of binge-eating disorder and food addiction

“…However, sometimes regular food pellets or chow can serve as the reward, which would not be traditionally termed palatable food; yet several studies have shown that rodents can have preferences for and/or binge-like episodes with these foods. 37 , 38 …”

“…However, sometimes regular food pellets or chow can serve as the reward, which would not be traditionally termed palatable food; yet several studies have shown that rodents can have preferences for and/or binge-like episodes with these foods. 37,38 Despite a vast body of literature on the neurobiological basis of BED, differentiation between BED and FA has rarely been made in previous studies. Most studies compare cravings and withdrawal symptoms owing to hyperpalatable foods with an opioid-related addiction.…”

Examination of Onset Trajectories and Persistence of Binge-Like Eating Behavior in Mice after Intermittent Palatable Food Exposure

“…The BE paradigm used across all experiments is based on previous work using intermittent PF access schedules in rodents (see review in Hildebrandt & Ahmari, 2021). Intermittent PF access schedules mimic multiple features of BE in humans– e.g., BE is episodic and occurs over a short (~two hour) period of time (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and individuals consume food that is typically low in nutrition but high in palatability (Boggiano et al, 2007; Furlong et al, 2014; Hildebrandt et al, 2014; Hildebrandt et al, 2018).…”

“…The BE paradigm used across all experiments is based on previous work using intermittent PF access schedules in rodents (see review in Hildebrandt & Ahmari, 2021).…”

“…Current pre-clinical approaches for examining binge-like eating in rodents have successfully modeled core components of the clinical presentation of BE (as reviewed in Hildebrandt & Ahmari, 2021). These paradigms generate binge-like eating in rodents through intermittent (rather than continuous) exposure to highly palatable food (PF; i.e., typically high in sweetness, and low in nutritional value) (Boggiano et al, 2007; Furlong et al, 2014; Hildebrandt et al, 2014; Hildebrandt et al, 2018).…”