Potentially obesogenic diets alter metabolic and neurobehavioural parameters in Wistar rats: a comparison between two dietary models

•The cafeteria diet caused anxiogenic like behaviour and hyperphagia in rats;•Obesogenic diets reduced glucose and insulin tolerance and caused dyslipidemia;•Obesogenic diets damage oxidative parameters in the liver, kidneys and brain.•Obesogenic diets change the morphology of adipose tissue, kidneys, liver and brain•Western and cafeteria groups show greater IL-6 protein expression in adipose tissue Clinical studies related to the obesity pandemic have intensified in recent years, being the animal studies are also considered of great relevance. However, despite the fact that many diets have been reported in the literature to induce obesity in animal models, there is still a gap regarding evidence of the efficacy of these models, considering not only changes in somatic parameters, but also the triggering of comorbidities associated with obesity. In this scenario, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of western and cafeteria diets as obesity-inducing protocols, focusing on the evaluation of metabolic, somatic, oxidative, histological and behavioural parameters of Wistar rats. The rats were fed a control (CON), western (WTD) or cafeteria (CAF) diet for 16 weeks. The CAF diet caused anxiogenic-like behaviour. Body mass (BMI), Lee and adiposity indices increased in the CAF group. CAF and WTD diets reduced glucose and insulin tolerance, caused dyslipidemia, increased lipid peroxidation and decrease antioxidant capacity in the liver, kidneys and brain. The WTD and CAF groups shows greater IL-6 protein expression in adipose tissue, developed hepatic steatosis and ischaemic neurons, whereas interstitial nephritis was observed only in the CAF group. The CAF diet was most effective in inducing obesity, as shown both by the somatic parameters and by the greater number of obesity-related metabolic and neurobehavioural disorders in the evaluated rats.