Unexpected Long-Term Protection of Adult Offspring Born to High-Fat Fed Dams against Obesity Induced by a Sucrose-Rich Diet
Background
Metabolic and endocrine environment during early life is crucial for
metabolic imprinting. When dams were fed a high fat diet (HF diet), rat
offspring developed hypothalamic leptin resistance with lean phenotype when
weaned on a normal diet. Interestingly, when grown on the HF diet, they
appeared to be protected against the effects of HF diet as compared to
offspring of normally fed dams. The mechanisms involved in the protective
effect of maternal HF diet are unclear.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We thus investigated the impact of maternal high fat diet on offspring
subjected to normal or high palatable diet (P diet) on metabolic and
endocrine parameters. We compared offspring born to dams fed P or HF diet.
Offspring born to dams fed control or P diet, when fed P diet exhibited a
higher body weight, altered hypothalamic leptin sensitivity and metabolic
parameters suggesting that maternal P diet has no protective effect on
offspring. Whereas, maternal HF diet reduces body weight gain and
circulating triglycerides, and ameliorates corpulence index of offspring,
even when subjected to P diet. Interestingly, this protective effect is
differently expressed in male and female offspring. Male offspring exhibited
higher energy expenditure as mirrored by increased hypothalamic UCP-2 and
liver AdipoR1/R2 expression, and a profound change in the arcuate nucleus
astrocytic organization. In female offspring, the most striking impact of
maternal HF diet is the reduced hypothalamic expression of NPY and POMC.
Conclusions/Significance
HF diet given during gestation and lactation protects, at least partially,
offspring from excessive weight gain through several mechanisms depending
upon gender including changes in arcuate nucleus astrocytic organization and
increased hypothalamic UCP-2 and liver AdipoR1/2 expression in males and
reduced hypothalamic expression of NPY and POMC in females. Taken together
our results reveal new mechanisms involved in the protective effect of
maternal HF diet.
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Unexpected Long-Term Protection of Adult Offspring Born to High-Fat
Fed Dams against Obesity Induced by a Sucrose-Rich Diet
Syndicated from:PLoS ONE
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