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Updated: Apr 23, 2026
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Author Spotlight: Enhancing the Offspring Health in Rats with Maternal Exercise During Pregnancy
Published on: April 5, 2024
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Distinct Effects of Maternal Stress and Exercise on Offspring Metabolic Health
Felix T Yang1,2,3, Joao V Esteves1,2, Lisa A Baer1,2
1Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Summary
Maternal exercise improves offspring metabolic health, but prenatal stress negates these benefits in males. Stress also alters corticosteroid signaling in male offspring, impacting metabolic programming.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Metabolic Health
- Neuroendocrinology
Background:
- Maternal physical activity promotes offspring metabolic resilience.
- Prenatal psychosocial stress can lead to lifelong metabolic dysfunction in offspring.
- The interaction between maternal exercise and prenatal stress on offspring metabolic health is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the combined effects of maternal exercise and prenatal psychosocial stress on the metabolic health of male and female offspring.
- To determine if maternal exercise can mitigate the negative programming effects of prenatal stress on offspring metabolism.
- To explore the underlying mechanisms, including corticosteroid signaling in brown adipose tissue.
Main Methods:
- C57BL/6 mice dams were divided into four groups: sedentary/non-stressed, sedentary/stressed, exercised/non-stressed, and exercised/stressed.
- Offspring metabolic health, including glucose tolerance, was assessed.
- Corticosteroid levels and gene/protein expression of glucocorticoid receptors in brown adipose tissue were analyzed in male offspring.
Main Results:
- Maternal exercise improved glucose tolerance in male offspring, but this benefit was abolished by prenatal stress.
- No significant effects of maternal stress or exercise on glucose tolerance were observed in female offspring.
- Maternal exercise increased basal corticosterone in male offspring, while prenatal stress altered mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptor expression in brown adipose tissue, with exercise partially restoring glucocorticoid receptor expression.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal stress significantly blunts the metabolic benefits of maternal exercise in male offspring.
- The stress-exercise interaction influences offspring metabolic programming via tissue-specific regulation of glucocorticoid pathways.
- These findings highlight the critical role of the prenatal environment in mediating the long-term metabolic consequences of maternal lifestyle choices.
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