Epidemiological and animal studies suggest that the alteration of hormonal and metabolic environment during fetal and neonatal development can contribute to development of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. In this paper, we investigated the impact of maternal high-fat (HF) diet on hypothalamic leptin sensitivity and body weight gain of offspring. Adult Wistar female rats received a HF or a control normal-fat (C) diet for 6 wk before gestation until the end of the suckling period. After weaning, pups received either C or HF diet during 6 wk. Body weight gain and metabolic and endocrine parameters were measured in the eight groups of rats formed according to a postweaning diet, maternal diet, and gender. To evaluate hypothalamic leptin sensitivity in each group, STAT-3 phosphorylation was measured in response to leptin or saline intraperitoneal bolus. Pups exhibited similar body weights at birth, but at weaning, those born to HF dams weighed significantly less (−12%) than those born to C dams. When given the HF diet, males and females born to HF dams exhibited smaller body weight and feed efficiency than those born to C dams, suggesting increased energy expenditure programmed by the maternal HF diet. Thus, maternal HF feeding could be protective against adverse effects of the HF diet as observed in male offspring of control dams: overweight (+17%) with hyperleptinemia and hyperinsulinemia. Furthermore, offspring of HF dams fed either C or HF diet exhibited an alteration in hypothalamic leptin-dependent STAT-3 phosphorylation. We conclude that maternal high-fat diet programs a hypothalamic leptin resistance in offspring, which, however, fails to increase the body weight gain until adulthood.

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The aim of our present study was to compare the efficiency of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and fish oil in modulating atherogenic risk markers. Adult male hamsters were given a cholesterol-rich diet (0·6 g/kg) for 8 weeks; the diet was supplemented with 5 g cis-9,trans-11-CLA isomer/kg, 12 g CLA mixture (CLA-mix)/kg, 12 g fish oil/kg or 12 g fish oil þ 12 g CLA-mix/kg. The plasma cholesterol status was improved only with the cis-9,trans-11-CLA (HDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol:LDL-cholesterol ratio, P,0·05), but was of borderline significance for CLA-mix (HDL-cholesterol:LDL-cholesterol ratio, P¼ 0·06), with an increase (33 -40 %) in the liver lipoprotein receptors (scavenger receptor-type I and LDL ApoB/E receptor) and HDL-binding protein 2 (P,0·05). A 100 % pigment gallstones incidence and a slight insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment index) were observed in the CLA-mix-fed hamsters (P¼ -0·031). In comparison, fish-oil feeding alone improved merely the scavenger receptor-type I and HDL-binding protein 2 liver status and faeces sterol output. For most of our present observations, the concomitant intake of fish oil and CLA-mix gave dominant effects that were exclusive and specific to one or the other oil. In conclusion, part of the beneficial effects of CLA in the present study can be ascribed to the cis-9,trans-11-isomer, and these did not generally overlap with those of fish oil. In addition, the CLA-mix effects are clearly affected by the marine (n-3) fatty acids. Conjugated linoleic acid: Rumenic acid: Fish oil: Lipid atherosclerosis risk markers: HamstersConjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a collective term describing positional and geometrical isomers of linoleic acid. Among them, the cis-9,trans-11-isomer, so-called rumenic acid, occurs naturally in foodstuffs from ruminant animal fat sources. CLA have received growing attention in the past 10 years because of their pleiotropic biological activities. For instance, these fatty acids are effective anti-carcinogens, anti-atherosclerotic agents and potent modulators of the immune function (Pariza et al. 2001;Martin & Valeille, 2002). Studies dealing with the anti-atherosclerotic properties of CLA are scarce but promising. For instance, a CLA mixture (CLA-mix; 94·0 % (range 1-10 g/kg cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12 isomers/kg of diet) decreased early aortic atherosclerosis when given to male hamsters receiving a pro-atherogenic diet (F 1 B strain; Wilson et al. 2000), and even caused regression of pre-established atherosclerosis in the male rabbit (New Zealand White; Kritchevsky et al. 2000) (10 g/kg diet). On the other hand, a detrimental effect on early aortic lesions outcome of a similar CLA-mix (5 g/kg diet) has been observed in C57Bl/6 mice fed a pro-atherogenic diet (Munday et al. 1999). Nevertheless, the studies dealing with the effect of CLA on the plasma lipid profile are less clear. Animal studies and studies with human subjects have had discordant results, as reviewed in Roche et al. (2001). In addition, animal experiments (hamste...