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Maternal Western diet age-specifically alters female offspring voluntary physical activity and dopamine- and

Gregory N Ruegsegger1, Kolter B Grigsby1, Taylor J Kelty1

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.

FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
|August 11, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Maternal Western diet (WD) during pregnancy alters offspring physical activity. Female offspring showed age-specific changes in activity, linked to dopamine and leptin gene expression, but these effects were not passed to the next generation.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Metabolic health

Background:

  • Prenatal overnutrition, particularly from a Western diet (WD), is linked to developmental issues and increased obesity risk.
  • Understanding the transgenerational impact of maternal diet on offspring behavior and metabolic health is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the transgenerational effects of maternal WD consumption on offspring physical activity and associated neurobiological changes.
  • To determine if maternal WD exposure influences dopamine and leptin pathways in offspring.
  • To assess the role of ventral tegmental area (VTA) leptin signaling in mediating these effects.

Main Methods:

  • Maternal Western diet (WD) exposure in mice.
  • Assessment of voluntary wheel running activity in juvenile and adult F1 offspring (male and female).
  • Analysis of dopamine receptor (DRD) and leptin (Lepr) gene expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and VTA.
  • Intra-VTA leptin antagonism using recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV).
  • Evaluation of F2 offspring for physical activity and adiposity.

Main Results:

  • F1 female offspring exhibited increased wheel running as juveniles but decreased activity as adults following maternal WD exposure.
  • No significant differences in wheel running were observed in F1 male offspring.
  • Altered DRD1, DRD2, and Lepr gene expression in the NAc and VTA correlated with activity changes in female offspring.
  • Maternal WD increased body fat, leptin, and insulin in male, but not female, F1 offspring.
  • VTA leptin antagonism affected wheel running in standard diet offspring but not in WD offspring.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal exposure to a Western diet induces age-specific alterations in voluntary physical activity in female offspring.
  • These changes are associated with modifications in dopamine and leptin signaling pathways.
  • The observed effects appear to be due to in utero somatic reprogramming rather than epigenetic inheritance.
  • Ventral tegmental area leptin signaling plays a role in modulating physical activity in response to maternal diet.

Keywords:
VTAin utero reprogrammingnucleus accumbensobesity

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