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Maternal diet high in linoleic acid alters offspring fatty acids and cardiovascular function in a rat model
Nirajan Shrestha1, Simone Sleep1, Tessa Helman1
1School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia.
Insights
Maternal high linoleic acid (LA) diets negatively impact offspring heart development and circulating fats. Postnatal diets can modify these effects, particularly in females, highlighting the importance of fatty acid balance during development.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Linoleic acid (LA), an essential omega-6 fatty acid, is crucial for fetal development.
- Maternal diet composition significantly influences offspring's long-term health outcomes.
- Understanding the impact of high LA intake on cardiac development is vital.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of maternal high LA (HLA) diet on offspring cardiac development.
- To examine the relationship between circulating fatty acids, cardiovascular function, and maternal diet.
- To assess the potential of postnatal diet to reverse adverse effects of maternal HLA diet.
Main Methods:
- Female Wistar Kyoto rats were fed low LA (LLA) or high LA (HLA) diets pre-pregnancy and during gestation/lactation.
- Offspring were fed LLA or HLA diets post-weaning and euthanized at postnatal day 40.
- Circulating fatty acids, lipids, leptin, cardiac gene expression, and cardiovascular function (pressure-volume loops, coronary reactivity) were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Maternal HLA diet altered offspring lipid profiles and decreased plasma n-3 fatty acids in males and females.
- Both maternal and postnatal HLA diets increased plasma n-6 and LA levels.
- Maternal HLA diet impaired cardiac function and altered gene expression in male offspring, while impacting diastolic pressure-volume relationship and coronary reactivity in females.
Conclusions:
- Maternal high LA diets adversely affect offspring lipid metabolism, fatty acid profiles, and cardiac function.
- Postnatal diet plays a role in modifying these effects, especially in female offspring.
- Dietary linoleic acid intake during critical developmental periods has significant implications for cardiovascular health.
Abstract:
Linoleic acid (LA), an essential n-6 fatty acid (FA), is critical for fetal development. We investigated the effects of maternal high LA (HLA) diet on offspring cardiac development and its relationship to circulating FA and cardiovascular function in adolescent offspring, and the ability of the postnatal diet to reverse any adverse effects. Female Wistar Kyoto rats were fed low LA (LLA; 1·44 % energy from LA) or high LA (HLA; 6·21 % energy from LA) diets for 10 weeks before pregnancy and during gestation/lactation. Offspring, weaned at postnatal day 25, were fed LLA or HLA diets and euthanised at postnatal day 40 (n 6-8). Maternal HLA diet decreased circulating total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol in females and decreased total plasma n-3 FA in males, while maternal and postnatal HLA diets decreased total plasma n-3 FA in females. α-Linolenic acid (ALA) and EPA were decreased by postnatal but not maternal HLA diets in both sexes. Maternal and postnatal HLA diets increased total plasma n-6 and LA, and a maternal HLA diet increased circulating leptin, in both male and female offspring. Maternal HLA decreased slopes of systolic and diastolic pressure-volume relationship (PVR), and increased cardiac Col1a1, Col3a1, Atp2a1 and Notch1 in males. Maternal and postnatal HLA diets left-shifted the diastolic PVR in female offspring. Coronary reactivity was altered in females, with differential effects on flow repayment after occlusion. Thus, maternal HLA diets impact lipids, FA and cardiac function in offspring, with postnatal diet modifying FA and cardiac function in the female offspring.
