Maternal exposure to high-fat diet induces long-term mitochondrial alterations in the offspring heart
Mariapia Chindamo1, Hassib Chehade1, Anthony Sordet1
1Division of Pediatrics, Woman-Mother-Child Department, Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) Laboratory, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Objectives:
Heart disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, with its prevalence exacerbated by inadequate nutritional intake. Particularly concerning is the elevated risk induced by imbalanced nutrition during development, which can impact lifelong heart health. Recent research has underscored mitochondrial dysregulation as a pivotal mechanism driving the enduring consequences of nutritional excess. Building upon previous findings wherein a maternal high-fat diet (HFD) led to cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, our current study aimed to evaluate the impact of such a challenge on myocardial mitochondrial function.
Methods:
Female rats were fed a chow diet or HFD during gestation and lactation. The hearts of male offspring were analyzed at adulthood. Mitochondrial DNA abundance was evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Proteins involved in mitochondrial biogenesis, fusion, fission, damage to the electron transport chain, metabolism, cell death, proliferation, and inflammation were measured by western blot. Mitochondrial clearance was evaluated by the measurement of mitophagy markers on isolated mitochondria. Lipids were visualized by histologic approaches.
Results:
We detected decreased cardiac mitochondrial fission factor and mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate synthase beta subunit and increased Parkin, pro-tumor necrosis factor alpha, and pro-interleukin 1 beta protein levels associated with decreased microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3B levels in cardiac mitochondrial fraction, with a tendency for increased Oil Red O staining in the adult hearts of male offspring exposed to HFD.
Conclusions:
Maternal exposure to HFD enhanced mitochondrial damage and impaired fission and clearance in offspring hearts at adulthood. These alterations were associated with altered expression of proteins involved in the mitochondrial electron transport chain coupled with a propensity for increased fatty acid accumulation and elevated proinflammatory markers.
More Related Videos
05:44Author Spotlight: Collecting the Brain and Serum from the Same Mice Fetus to Study Brain Tumor Development
Published on: May 17, 2024
11:26Analyzing Oxygen Consumption Rate in Primary Cultured Mouse Neonatal Cardiomyocytes Using an Extracellular Flux Analyzer
Published on: February 13, 2019
