Diet induced maternal obesity affects offspring gut microbiota and persists into young adulthood

Accumulating evidence suggests that diet could shape the host gut microbiome composition. Herein, we investigated the effects of maternal high fat diet (HFD) consumption on the gut microbiota and serum profile of mice offspring, and attempted to explore the beneficial roles of maternal probiotics intervention. Female C57BL/6J mice were fed with normal diet, HFD or HFD with daily probiotics (B. breve DM8310, L. acidophilus DM8302, L. casei DM8121 and S. thermophilus DM8309) by gavage starting 6 weeks prior to breeding and continued throughout gestation and lactation. Pups of HFD dams had higher levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), glucose, insulin and leptin compared to those of chow-fed dams. Maternal probiotics intervention resulted in a decrease in the lipid levels in all the pups, while the glucose, insulin and leptin levels were decreased only in adult female pups compared to those from HFD-fed dams; the decreased levels were similar to those in the pups of chow-fed dams. In line with these plasma changes, maternal HFD persistently altered the composition of the offspring gut microbiota in a sex specific way. Maternal probiotics intervention could ameliorate gut microbiota dysbiosis in the offspring. Such intervention showed better effects particularly for the female pups at adulthood. In conclusion, maternal HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and metabolic disorder could persist through the adulthood of the offspring. Maternal probiotics intervention can negate the detrimental effects of maternal HFD on the gut microbiota and metabolism in the offspring in a sex specific way.