Dietary fats promote functional and structural changes in the median eminence blood/spinal fluid interface—the protective role for BDNF

BACKGROUND: The consumption of large amounts of dietary fats activates an inflammatory response in the hypothalamus, damaging key neurons involved in the regulation of caloric intake and energy expenditure. It is currently unknown why the mediobasal hypothalamus is the main target of diet-induced brain inflammation. We hypothesized that dietary fats can damage the median eminence blood/spinal fluid interface. METHODS: Swiss mice were fed on a high-fat diet, and molecular and structural studies were performed employing real-time PCR, immunoblot, immunofluorescence, transmission electron microscopy, and metabolic measurements. RESULTS: The consumption of a high fat diet was sufficient to increase the expression of inflammatory cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the median eminence, preceding changes in other circumventricular regions. In addition, it led to an early loss of the structural organization of the median eminence β1-tanycytes. This was accompanied by an increase in the hypothalamic expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. The immunoneutralization of brain-derived neurotrophic factor worsened diet-induced functional damage of the median eminence blood/spinal fluid interface, increased diet-induced hypothalamic inflammation, and increased body mass gain. CONCLUSIONS: The median eminence/spinal fluid interface is affected at the functional and structural levels early after introduction of a high-fat diet. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor provides an early protection against damage, which is lost upon a persisting consumption of large amounts of dietary fats. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12974-017-1046-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.