# Persistent Effects of Dietary Protein Restriction on Protein Motivation and Underlying Physiology

> **NIH NIH R15** · LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE · 2024 · $455,398

## Abstract

Project Summary
It is often assumed that animals rapidly adapt behaviorally and physiologically to nutritional challenges and that
adaptations to such challenges carry implications for human health. Very little work has been conducted to
directly test this assumption and our preliminary data indicate that dietary protein restriction exerts effects on
protein motivation that continue once protein intake is normalized. The proposed project will assess the
persistence of the effects of dietary protein restriction on two measures of protein motivation – preference and
economic “demand” – and on the physiological correlates of protein motivation – FGF21 production and
mesolimbic dopamine system activity in response to protein ingestion. The work proposed in this application
will be the first to address the question of how animals adapt behaviorally and physiologically when dietary
protein is normalized following a period of dietary protein restriction. This work will be significant because it will
directly test the assumption, implicit in most work in the field, that animals dynamically respond to nutritional
needs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10874208
- **Project number:** 1R15DK139555-01
- **Recipient organization:** LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul Soto
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $455,398
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10874208

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10874208, Persistent Effects of Dietary Protein Restriction on Protein Motivation and Underlying Physiology (1R15DK139555-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10874208. Licensed CC0.

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