Developmental programming-ageing effects in muscle strength of obese rat offspring in a sex-dependent manner

Maternal obesity programs the offspring to metabolic dysfunction. However, the effects of maternal obesity on skeletal muscle programming and ageing have been little explored. To determine if maternal obesity is a detriment to the progress of age-related muscle strength loss in the offspring (F₁), we evaluated the indicators of muscle strength, adiposity, and metabolism at young adult and senior adult ages of maternal obesity F1 (MOF₁) males and females from a high-fat diet-induced maternal obesity model in rat. Controls were agematched siblings whose mothers were fed a standard maternal diet (CF₁). Combinatorial data analysis was performed with body weight (BW), forelimb grip strength (FGS), FGS adjusted with BW, body fat, adiposity index, and serum triacylglycerols, cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance variables, to identify discriminant traits of variation among F₁ groups. During ageing, maternal obesity caused glucose and cholesterol metabolic dysfunctions in male F₁, whereas adiposity-associated skeletal strength loss and fatty acid alterations were present in female offspring. In conclusion, offspring programming-ageing effects due to maternal obesity impact metabolism and skeletal muscle strength loss at later ages in a sex-dependent manner.