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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Body Composition and Metabolic Caging Analysis in High Fat Fed Mice
Published on: May 24, 2018
A High Fat Diet During Pregnancy and Lactation Induces Cardiac and Renal Abnormalities in GLUT4 +/- Male Mice
Michael Kruse1, Ariana Fiallo1, Jianling Tao2
1Departments of Biochemistry, Bronx, New York, USA.
Background/Aims:
Altered nutrients during the in utero (IU) and/or lactation (L) period predispose offspring to cardio-renal diseases in adulthood. This study investigates the effect of a high fat diet (HFD) fed to female mice during IU/L on gene expression patterns associated with heart and kidney failure and hypertension in male offspring.
Methods:
Female wild type (WT) mice were fed either a HFD or control chow (C) prior to mating with males with a genetic heterozygous deletion of GLUT4 (G4+/-, a model of peripheral insulin resistance and hypertension) and throughout IU/L. After weaning male offspring were placed on a standard rodent chow until 24 weeks of age.
Results:
All offspring exposed to a maternal HFD showed increased heart and kidney weight and reduced cardiac insulin responsiveness. G4+/- offspring on a HFD displayed early hypertension associated with increased renal gene expression of renin and the AT1- receptors compared to G4+/- on a C diet. This group showed decreased cardiac expression of key genes involved in fatty acid oxidation compared to WT on a C diet.
Conclusions:
These results indicate an interaction between a HFD diet and genotype during early life development that can enhance susceptibility to cardio-renal diseases later in life.
