Maternal low intensity physical exercise prevents obesity in offspring rats exposed to early overnutrition

Abstract

Low intensity exercise during pregnancy and lactation may create a protective effect against the development of obesity in offspring exposed to overnutrition in early life. To test these hypotheses, pregnant rats were randomly assigned into 2 groups: Sedentary and Exercised, low intensity, on a rodent treadmill at 30% VO2Max /30-minute/session/3x/week throughout pregnancy and the lactation. Male offspring were raised in small litters (SL, 3 pups/dam) and normal litters (NL, 9 pups/dam) as models of early overnutrition and normal feed, respectively. Exercised mothers showed low mesenteric fat pad stores and fasting glucose and improved glucose-insulin tolerance, VO2max during lactation and sympathetic activity. Moreover, the breast milk contained elevated levels of insulin. In addition, SL of sedentary mothers presented metabolic dysfunction and glucose and insulin intolerance and were hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic in adulthood. SL of exercised mothers showed lower fat tissue accretion and improvements in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, insulinemia and glycemia. The results suggest that maternal exercise during the perinatal period can have a possible reprogramming effect to prevent metabolic dysfunction in adult rat offspring exposed to early overnutrition, which may be associated with the improvement in maternal health caused by exercise.

Exercise alters the molecular pathways of insulin signaling and lipid handling in maternal tissues of obese pregnant mice

“…However, despite the lack of effect on fetal growth, we have shown previously that the exercise intervention used in this study prevented the development of placental hypoxia and lipidemia, as well as male offspring insulin resistance, cardiac hypertrophy, and cardiac dysfunction due to maternal obesity (Fernandez‐Twinn et al ; Beeson et al ). Similar beneficial effects of exercise on the cardiovascular and metabolic health of the offspring have been reported in overweight or obese women (Barakat et al ; Patel et al ) and in other experimental animals (Carter et al ; Carter et al ; Rajia et al ; Laker et al ; Blaize et al ; Raipuria et al ; Vega et al ; Stanford et al ; Quiclet et al ; Ribeiro et al ; Stanford et al ; Cunningham et al ). Our previous work has shown that maternal hyperinsulinemia is a predictor of offspring cardiometabolic health in obese pregnancies (Fernandez‐Twinn et al ).…”

“…In mice, exercise also ameliorates the increased levels of maternal oxidative stress (Vega et al ) and placental hypoxia and lipid accumulation associated with maternal obesity (Fernandez‐Twinn et al ). Furthermore, there is accumulating evidence that maternal exercise has beneficial effects on cardiometabolic outcomes of the offspring in overweight or obese women (Barakat et al ; Patel et al ) and in experimental animals (Carter et al ; Carter et al ; Rajia et al ; Laker et al ; Blaize et al ; Raipuria et al ; Vega et al ; Stanford et al ; Fernandez‐Twinn et al ; Quiclet et al ; Ribeiro et al ; Stanford et al ; Beeson et al ; Cunningham et al ). However, the physiological and molecular impact of exercise on the metabolically active tissues of the mother, which may lead to improved pregnancy outcomes, remain unknown.…”

Lactational programming of glucose homeostasis: a window of opportunity

“…A perinatal study by Ribeiro et al . provides a preliminary insight into the metabolic benefits of maternal perinatal exercise (Ribeiro et al . 2017).…”

“…2017). Using an animal model, this study evaluated the effects of maternal low-intensity exercise during both pregnancy and lactation and postnatal overnutrition on adult male offspring metabolic outcomes (Ribeiro et al 2017). In both normal litter and small litter (overnutrition) offspring of exercised dams, a reduction in fasting insulin and a decrease in adiposity were observed compared to both normal litter and small litter offspring of sedentary dams.…”

Multigenerational effects of chronic maternal exposure to a high sugar/fat diet and physical training

“…In addition, physical training activates the intracellular peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor coactivator-1α (PGC-1 α) pathway, which is considered an energetic metabolism regulator in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. It is also responsible for increasing mitochondria biogenesis, [37][38][39] protecting offspring from obesity, Type 2 diabetes mellitus and any harmful effects derived from a high-fat diet consumed by the maternal generation. 23,40 One of the consequences of hypercaloric, hypolipemic or hyperglycemic diet consumption during pregnancy and lactation is a glycemic profile alteration in adult descendants.…”