Emerging evidence demonstrates the importance of sufficient vitamin D (1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) levels during early life stage development with deficiencies associated with long-term effects into adulthood. While vitamin D has traditionally been associated with mineral ion homeostasis, accumulating evidence suggests non-calcemic roles for vitamin D including metabolic homeostasis. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency (VDD) during early life stage development precedes metabolic disruption. Three dietary cohorts of zebrafish were placed on engineered diets including a standard laboratory control diet, a vitamin D null diet, and a vitamin D enriched diet. Zebrafish grown on a vitamin D null diet between 2–12 months post fertilization (mpf) exhibited diminished somatic growth and enhanced central adiposity associated with accumulation and enlargement of visceral and subcutaneous adipose depots indicative of both adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia. VDD zebrafish exhibited elevated hepatic triglycerides, attenuated plasma free fatty acids and attenuated lipoprotein lipase activity consistent with hallmarks of dyslipidemia. VDD induced dysregulation of gene networks associated with growth hormone and insulin signaling, including induction of suppressor of cytokine signaling. These findings indicate that early developmental VDD impacts metabolic health by disrupting the balance between somatic growth and adipose accumulation.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that is metabolized in the body to generate an active metabolite (1,25(OH)2D) with hormone-like activity and highly diverse roles in cellular function. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a prevalent but easily preventable nutritional disturbance. Emerging evidence demonstrates the importance of sufficient vitamin D concentrations during fetal life with deficiencies leading to long-term effects into adulthood. Here, we provide a detailed review and perspective of evidence for the role of maternal VDD in offspring long-term health, particularly as it relates to developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). We focus on the roles in neurobehavioral and cardiometabolic disorders in humans and highlight recent findings from zebrafish and rodent models that probe potential mechanisms linking early life VDD to later life health outcomes. Moreover, we explore evidence implicating epigenetic mechanisms as a mediator of this link. Gaps in our current understanding of how maternal VDD might result in deleterious offspring outcomes later in life are also addressed.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an ideal model for whole animal studies of lipid metabolism and lipid-related disease. In this work, infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (IR-MALDESI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) was applied for direct visualization of lipid and metabolite distributions across various organs in whole-body zebrafish tissue sections. Detailed methods for overcoming the challenges of cryosectioning adult male zebrafish for MSI and complementary histological imaging are described. Representative two-dimensional ion maps demonstrated organ specific localization of lipid analytes allowing for visualization of areas of interest including the brain, liver, intestines, and skeletal muscle. A high resolving power mass spectrometer was utilized for accurate mass measurements, which permitted the use of open-source, web-based tools for MS 1 annotations including METASPACE and METLIN. Whole-body MSI with IR-MALDESI allowed for broad lipid coverage with high spatial resolution, illustrating the potential of this technique for studying lipid-related diseases using zebrafish as a model organism.

Alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEOs), such as nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEOs), are high-production-volume surfactants used in laundry detergents, hard-surface cleaners, pesticide formulations, textile production, oils, paints, and other products. NPEOs comprise −80% of the total production of APEOs and are widely reported across diverse environmental matrices. Despite a growing push for replacement products, APEOs continue to be released into the environment through wastewater at significant levels. Research into related nonionic surfactants from varying sources has reported metabolic health impacts, and we have previously demonstrated that diverse APEOs and alcohol polyethoxylates promote adipogenesis in the murine 3T3-L1 pre-adipocyte model. These effects appeared to be independent of the base alkylphenol and related to the ethoxylate chain length, though limited research has evaluated NPEO exposures in animal models. The goals of this study were to assess the potential of NPEOs to promote adiposity (Nile red fluorescence quantification) and alter growth and/or development (toxicity, length, weight, and energy expenditure) of developmentally exposed zebrafish (Danio rerio). We also sought to expand our understanding of the ability to promote adiposity through evaluation in human mesenchymal stem cells. Herein, we demonstrated consistent adipogenic effects in two separate human bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell models, and that nonylphenol and its ethoxylates promoted weight gain and increased adipose deposition in developmentally exposed zebrafish. Notably, across both cell and zebrafish models we report increasing adipogenic/obesogenic activity with increasing ethoxylate chain lengths up to maximums around NPEO-6 and then decreasing activity with the longest ethoxylate chain lengths. This research suggests metabolic health concerns for these common obesogens, suggesting further need to assess molecular mechanisms and better characterize environmental concentrations for human health risk assessments.

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