Abstract-Maternal obesity is increasingly prevalent and may affect the long-term health of the child. We investigated the effects of maternal diet-induced obesity in mice on offspring metabolic and cardiovascular function. Female C57BL/6J mice were fed either a standard chow (3% fat, 7% sugar) or a palatable obesogenic diet (16% fat, 33% sugar) for 6 weeks before mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. Offspring of control (OC) and obese dams (OO) were weaned onto standard chow and studied at 3 and 6 months of age. OO were hyperphagic from 4 to 6 weeks of age compared with OC and at 3 months locomotor activity was reduced and adiposity increased (abdominal fat pad mass; PϽ0.01). OO were heavier than OC at 6 months (body weight, PϽ0.05). OO abdominal obesity was associated with adipocyte hypertrophy and altered mRNA expression of ␤-adrenoceptor 2 and 3, 11␤HSD-1, and PPAR-␥ 2. OO showed resistance artery endothelial dysfunction at 3 months, and were hypertensive, as assessed by radiotelemetry (nighttime systolic blood pressure at 6 months [ Key Words: obesity Ⅲ pregnancy Ⅲ developmental programming Ⅲ metabolic syndrome Ⅲ appetite Ⅲ blood pressure Ⅲ mouse O besity among women of reproductive age is presenting a critical challenge to health care. 29% of USA women aged 20 to 39 years are reported to be clinically obese 1 and there is serious concern in many European countries over the increasing obesity among young women. 2 While obesity is associated with increased risk of almost every common complication of pregnancy, obesity in the mother may play a direct role in transmission of an obesogenic and diabetogenic trait from generation to generation. Increasing evidence suggests that children born of pregnancies complicated by either obesity or related gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are at increased risk of obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and other facets of the metabolic syndrome. 3 Animal models have proven invaluable in interrogation of associations between maternal diet and body composition and offspring phenotype. 4 Those studies which have addressed effects of maternal calorific excess, including several from our laboratory, have generally fed rats diets rich in animal fat. 4 -7 Because young women of reproductive age often consume excessive amounts of sugars as well as fats, 8 the relevance of a diet rich in fat alone is limited. In this study, we induced obesity by feeding mice a highly palatable diet rich in sugars and animal fat, and addressed the hypothesis that diet-induced obesity during pregnancy can transmit a propensity for adiposity, glucose intolerance, and cardiovascular dysfunction to the offspring. Obesity was induced in female mice and offspring cardiovascular and metabolic function

Objective To investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations (25(OH)D) and mortality in a large consortium of cohort studies paying particular attention to potential age, sex, season, and country differences.Design Meta-analysis of individual participant data of eight prospective cohort studies from Europe and the US. Setting General population.Participants 26 018 men and women aged 50-79 years

Objective To examine the association between prediagnostic circulating vitamin D concentration, dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium, and the risk of colorectal cancer in European populations. Design Nested case-control study. Setting The study was conducted within the EPIC study, a cohort of more than 520 000 participants from 10 western European countries. Participants 1248 cases of incident colorectal cancer, which developed after enrolment into the cohort, were matched to 1248 controls Main outcome measures Circulating vitamin D concentration (25-hydroxy-vitamin-D, 25-(OH)D) was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Dietary and lifestyle data were obtained from questionnaires. Incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the risk of colorectal cancer by 25-(OH)D concentration and levels of dietary calcium and vitamin D intake were estimated from multivariate conditional logistic regression models, with adjustment for potential dietary and other confounders. Results 25-(OH)D concentration showed a strong inverse linear dose-response association with risk of colorectal cancer (P for trend <0.001). Compared with a pre-defined mid-level concentration of 25-(OH)D (50.0-75.0 nmol/l), lower levels were associated with higher colorectal cancer risk (<25.0 nmol/l: incidence rate ratio 1.32 (95% confidence interval 0.87 to 2.01); 25.0-49.9 nmol/l: 1.28 (1.05 to 1.56), and higher concentrations associated with lower risk (75.0-99.9 nmol/l: 0.88 (0.68 to 1.13); ≥100.0 nmol/l: 0.77 (0.56 to 1.06)). In analyses by quintile of 25-(OH)D concentration, patients in the highest quintile had a 40% lower risk of colorectal cancer than did those in the lowest quintile (P<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed a strong association for colon but not rectal cancer (P for heterogeneity=0.048). Greater dietary intake of calcium was associated with a lower colorectal cancer risk. Dietary vitamin D was not associated with disease risk. Findings did not vary by sex and were not altered by corrections for season or month of blood donation. Conclusions The results of this large observational study indicate a strong inverse association between levels of pre-diagnostic 25-(OH)D concentration and risk of colorectal cancer in western European populations. Further randomised trials are needed to assess whether increases in circulating 25-(OH)D concentration can effectively decrease the risk of colorectal cancer.

The FA profile of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids and activity of desaturase enzymes are strongly linked to the incidence of type 2 diabetes.