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Paternal obesity programs adverse serum lipid and lipoprotein profiles in rat offspring
Truc T K Le1, Gabriella A Andreani1, Saleh Mahmood1
1Department Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, State University of New York at Buffalohttps://ror.org/01y64my43, USA.
Insights
Paternal obesity negatively impacts offspring cardiometabolic health, leading to dyslipidemia in both male and female offspring. This occurs independently of offspring obesity, highlighting fathers' crucial role in metabolic programming.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive biology
- Metabolic health
- Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)
Background:
- Maternal obesity is a known factor in offspring cardiometabolic health.
- The influence of paternal obesity on metabolic programming is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of paternal obesity on offspring metabolic health and obesity.
- To determine if paternal obesity can lead to adverse metabolic programming in offspring.
Main Methods:
- A Sprague Dawley rat model was used, with male rats fed control or high-calorie diets pre-conception.
- Offspring (male and female) were assessed for growth, glycemic control, blood lipids, lipoprotein profiles, and liver fat at weaning and adulthood.
Main Results:
- Paternal obesity resulted in dyslipidemia in offspring of both sexes, irrespective of offspring obesity.
- Weanling offspring showed elevated total cholesterol (both sexes) and triglycerides (females).
- Adult offspring exhibited increased LDL/VLDL-cholesterol, with males showing higher apolipoprotein B and a more atherogenic lipoprotein profile.
Conclusions:
- Paternal obesity can induce adverse metabolic programming and dyslipidemia in offspring, even without postnatal overnutrition or offspring obesity.
- Paternal metabolic health is a critical, underappreciated factor influencing offspring cardiometabolic disease risk.
Abstract:
While maternal obesity is a well-established determinant of offspring cardiometabolic health, the contribution of paternal obesity to metabolic programming remains less well defined. This study investigated the impact of paternal obesity on obesity and metabolic health outcomes in male and female offspring using a Sprague Dawley rat model. Male rats were fed either a low-calorie control or high-calorie diet for a 6-week pre-conception period prior to mating with lean, control-fed females. Male and female offspring were assessed at weaning and in adulthood for growth parameters and cardiometabolic indices, including glycemic control, blood lipids and lipoprotein profiles, and liver fat. Paternal obesity was associated with adverse metabolic programming in offspring, characterized by dyslipidemia in both sexes, independent of early-life growth abnormalities or the development of obesity in adulthood. Newly-weaned offspring from obese fathers exhibited elevated total cholesterol in both sexes and increased serum triglycerides in females. In adulthood, offspring demonstrated increased LDL/VLDL-cholesterol, with male offspring displaying a specific increase in apolipoprotein B and a shift toward a more atherogenic lipoprotein subclass distribution, including higher concentrations of small LDL particles compared with male offspring from control fathers. These findings indicate that paternal obesity, even in the absence of postnatal overnutrition or offspring obesity, can program an advanced dyslipidemic phenotype in progeny. Paternal metabolic health may therefore represent an important and previously underappreciated early determinant of cardiometabolic disease risk in offspring.
