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Maternal high-fat diet is associated with altered pancreatic remodelling in mice offspring
Bianca Martins Gregorio1, Vanessa Souza-Mello, Carlos Alberto Mandarim-de-Lacerda
1Laboratório de Morfometria, Metabolismo e Doença Cardiovascular, Centro Biomédico, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Insights
Maternal high-fat diet (HF) during pregnancy causes lasting pancreatic changes in offspring. Gestation exposure to HF diet is more detrimental than lactation exposure, leading to adult metabolic and morphological issues.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive biology
- Metabolic syndrome
- Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)
Background:
- Maternal nutrition significantly influences offspring health.
- High-fat (HF) diets are increasingly prevalent, raising concerns about their developmental impact.
- Understanding prenatal and postnatal dietary influences is crucial for preventing metabolic disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if maternal HF diet during gestation and/or lactation affects pancreatic morphology in adult C57BL/6 mice offspring.
- To investigate the long-term consequences of maternal HF diet exposure on offspring metabolism and body composition.
Main Methods:
- Male offspring were divided into five groups based on maternal diet (standard chow or HF) during gestation and lactation.
- Offspring were maintained on standard chow or HF diets postweaning.
- Analyses included body mass, plasma insulin, and pancreatic and adipose tissue morphology.
Main Results:
- Offspring exposed to maternal HF diet, especially during gestation and postweaning (GL/HF), exhibited increased body mass and adipocyte hypertrophy.
- Gestational HF diet exposure (G group) led to elevated insulin levels and impaired carbohydrate metabolism at 3 months.
- Pancreatic islet hypertrophy was observed in offspring exposed to HF diets during gestation and/or lactation (G, GL, GL/HF groups).
Conclusions:
- Maternal HF diet during gestation poses greater risks for offspring pancreatic morphology and metabolic health than during lactation.
- Gestational HF diet exposure contributes to increased fat deposition and pancreatic islet alterations in adult offspring.
- Early-life nutritional interventions targeting maternal diet are critical for mitigating long-term health risks in offspring.
Purpose:
To investigate whether a maternal high-fat diet (HF) during pregnancy and/or suckling periods predisposes adult C57BL/6 mice offspring to morphological pancreatic modifications.
Methods:
Male pups were divided into 5 groups: SC (standard chow)-from dams fed SC during gestation and lactation, maintaining an SC diet from postweaning to adulthood; G-from dams fed HF diets during gestation; L-from dams fed HF diets during lactation; GL-from dams fed HF diets during gestation and lactation; and GL/HF-from dams fed HF diets during gestation and lactation, maintaining an HF diet from postweaning to adulthood. We analysed body mass (BM), plasma insulin, pancreas and adipose tissue structures.
Results:
During the entire experiment, the SC group had the lowest BM. However, GL/HF offspring were heavier than the other groups. This weight gain was also accompanied by adipocyte hypertrophy. At 3 months, G offspring showed an increased insulin levels and impairment in carbohydrates metabolism. Furthermore, pancreatic islets were hypertrophied in G, GL and GL/HF offspring in comparison with SC offspring.
Conclusion:
HF diet administration during the gestation period is more harmful than during the lactation period, exerting deleterious effects on pancreatic morphology in addition to larger fat deposits in adult mice offspring.
