Maternal obesity and late effects on offspring metabolism

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the late effects of maternal obesity induced by lesion of the ventromedial hypothalamus on offspring metabolism. Materials and methods: Thirty days after the bilateral lesion of the ventromedial hypothalamus, female rats were mated and divided into 2 groups of pregnant animals: Control (C) -false lesion (sham) and Obese (OB) -lesion. Three months after that, with the groups of mothers, offspring were divided into control and obese animals that received a normocaloric diet (C-N and OB-N), and control and obese animals that received a hypercaloric diet (C-H and OB-H). At 120 days of age, the animals were euthanized and their carcasses, feces and food were submitted to calorimetric analysis to determine energy balance and body composition. Results: During the growth period, offspring from obese mothers showed higher values of body weight and food intake than controls. Obese animals showed higher body weight gain and gross food efficiency than control animals in adulthood. The hypercaloric diet led to increased metabolizable energy intake, percentage of absorbed energy and energy expenditure in both groups. Body composition was only affected by the association of hypercaloric diet and maternal obesity that led to increased body fat. Conclusions: Maternal obesity has led to the development of later overweight in offspring, suggesting fetal programming. According to the trend presented, it is believed that the prolonged intake of hypercaloric diets in adult animals may, as an additional effect, induce worsening of the overweight induced by maternal obesity. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2014;58(3):301-7 Keywords Fetal programming; obesity; energy metabolism; body composition; hypercaloric diet RESUMO Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos tardios da obesidade materna induzida por lesão do núcleo ventromedial do hipotálamo sobre o metabolismo da prole. Materiais e métodos: Trinta dias após a lesão bilateral do hipotálamo ventromedial, ratos fêmeas foram colocadas para acasalar e divididas em dois grupos de animais gestantes: Controle (C) -falsa lesão e Obeso (OB) -lesionados. Três meses após o nascimento, de acordo com os grupos das mães, os filhotes foram divididos em animais controle e obesos que recebiam dieta normocalórica (C-N and OB-N) e animais controle e obesos que recebiam dieta hipercalórica (C-H and OB-H). Aos 120 dias de idade, os animais foram eutanasiados e as carcaças, fezes e ração foram submetidas à análise calorimétrica para determinação do balanço energético e composição corporal. Resultados: Durante o período de crescimento, os filhos de mães obesas mostraram maiores valores de peso corporal e ingestão alimentar que animais controle. Os animais obesos apresentaram maiores valores de ganho de peso corporal e eficiência metabólica que os animais controle quando adultos. A dieta hipercalórica levou ao aumento da energia metabolizável, percentagem de energia absorvida e gasto energético para ambos os grupos. A composição corporal foi somente afetada pela assoc...

From fatalism to mitigation: A conceptual framework for mitigating fetal programming of chronic disease by maternal obesity

“…Findings were similar according to maternal treatment, except Western-type maternal diet tended to induce weaker effects on offspring when control diets were matched for energy (White et al, 2009) or micronutrient (Zhang et al, 2013) content. In general, offspring experimental diets were applied at weaning through the end of the study period; based on the small number exceptions (Arentson-Lantz et al, 2014; Brenseke et al, 2015; Couvreur et al, 2011; Khanal et al, 2014; Llopis et al, 2014; Ong and Muhlhausler, 2014; Vido et al, 2014; Wallace et al, 2012), we observed no remarkable patterns with regard to the post-gestational timing of exposure to experimental offspring diets.…”

“…Of 39 studies reviewed, 35 were rodent studies, with others using pig (Arentson-Lantz et al, 2014), sheep (Khanal et al, 2014; Wallace et al, 2012), or non-human primate (Fan et al, 2013; Thorn et al, 2014) animal models. In all but two studies (Li et al, 2013; Vido et al, 2014), maternal obesity was induced by Western-type maternal diets. Findings were similar according to maternal treatment, except Western-type maternal diet tended to induce weaker effects on offspring when control diets were matched for energy (White et al, 2009) or micronutrient (Zhang et al, 2013) content.…”

Energy Intake Equalization During Pregnancy of Obese Mothers: Efects on the Maternal Energy Balance and Fetal Development

“…Shankar et al [16] suggested that maternal obesity can be responsible for a fetal programming, resulting in late obesity. We have previously reported that maternal obesity altered the response of adult rats to the effects of hypercaloric diets [17].…”

Sex‐specific Alterations in Serology and the Expression of Liver FATP4 Protein in Offspring Exposed to High‐Fat Diet during Pregnancy and/or Lactation

“…It is increasingly clear that maternal obesity and high-fat (HF) diet during pregnancy and lactation can lead to adverse outcomes in the offspring (Bringhenti et al, 2013;Desai et al, 2014;Stachowiak et al, 2013;Vido et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2011), as the intrauterine and early postnatal environments are critical to their development (Desai et al, 2014;Vogt et al, 2014). Maternal nutritional status during pregnancy and lactation plays an important role in determining the risk of developing metabolic diseases in adulthood, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, and obesity (Bouret, 2009;Heerwagen, Miller, Barbour, & Friedman, 2010;MacPherson et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2009).…”