Maternal Exercise Protects Male Offspring From Maternal Diet-Programmed Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Progression

Area of Science:

• Reproductive biology
• Metabolic disease
• Developmental programming

Background:

• Maternal obesity is a risk factor for offspring non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
• Maternal exercise may prevent adverse developmental programming.
• This study investigated if maternal exercise protects offspring from NAFLD induced by an obesogenic diet.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if maternal exercise during preconception and pregnancy protects offspring from NAFLD.
• To analyze the impact of maternal exercise on offspring liver health, inflammation, fibrosis, and metabolic profiles.

Main Methods:

• Female mice were fed a control (CON) or high-fat, fructose, cholesterol (HFFC) diet, with voluntary exercise introduced to a subset.
• Offspring were weaned to the HFFC diet to induce NAFLD.
• Analyses included serum, adipose, liver tissue, cecal contents (16S sequencing), and liver metabolomics.

Main Results:

• Maternal HFFC diet increased maternal body weight and offspring inflammation and fibrosis.
• Maternal exercise in HFFC dams reduced offspring inflammation and fibrosis compared to sedentary HFFC dams.
• Maternal exercise had minimal impact on offspring microbiome but altered liver metabolomics.

Conclusions:

• Maternal exercise is a promising strategy to prevent or mitigate NAFLD development in offspring exposed to an obesogenic environment.
• Exercise during critical developmental periods may counteract diet-induced metabolic disturbances.