Maternal Pea Protein Intake Provides Sex-Specific Protection against Dyslipidemia in Offspring from Obese Pregnancies

Abstract

Increased consumption of dietary pulse protein has been shown to assist in body weight regulation and improve a range of metabolic health outcomes. We investigated if the exchange of casein for yellow pea protein (YPPN) in an obese-inducing maternal diet throughout pregnancy and lactation offered protection against obesity and dyslipidemia in offspring. Sixty female Sprague Dawley rats were fed a low-calorie control diet (CON), a high-caloric obesity-inducing diet (with casein protein (CP), HC-CP), or an isocaloric/macronutrient-matched HC diet supplemented with YPPN isolate (HC-PPN) in pre-pregnancy, gestation, and lactation. Body weight (BW) and metabolic outcomes were assessed in male and female offspring at weaning and in adulthood after consuming the CON diet in the postnatal period. Consumption of the HC-PPN diet did not protect against maternal obesity but did improve reproductive success compared with the HC-CP group (72.7% versus 43.7%) and reduced total energy, fat, and protein in maternal milk. Male, but not female, offspring from mothers fed the HC-CP diet demonstrated hyperphagia, obesity, dyslipidemia, and hepatic triglyceride (TG) accumulation as adults compared with CON offspring. Isocaloric exchange of CP for YPPN in a high-calorie obese-inducing diet did not protect against obesity but did improve several aspects of lipid metabolism in adult male offspring including serum total cholesterol, LDL/VLDL cholesterol, triglycerides (TGs), and hepatic TG concentration. Our results suggest that the exchange of CP for YPPN in a maternal obese-inducing diet selectively protects male offspring from the malprogramming of lipid metabolism in adulthood.

Postnatal Consumption of Black Bean Powder Protects against Obesity and Dyslipidemia in Male Adult Rat Offspring from Obese Pregnancies

“…This may be attributed to the limited impact of the intervention on maternal obesity. However, in a similar rat model, we have recently reported that the supplementation of an obesity-inducing maternal diet with yellow pea protein [30] and fiber [29] fractions throughout pregnancy improved the metabolic health of offspring independent of a change in maternal obesity status.…”

“…Data were checked for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Based on our previous work [30], we estimated the requirement of a sample size of 8 mothers/group (effect size, 1.49; power, 0.90; p < 0.05) to observe a 10% reduction in offspring body weight. Differences between treatments (with an individual rat as the experimental unit) were analyzed with a general linear model ANOVA with an LSD (least significance difference) post hoc test.…”

“…Thus, the objectives of this study were to assess whether black bean powder (BBP) supplementation to mothers (throughout pre-pregnancy, gestation, lactation) or to pre-programmed male offspring would offer protection against obesity and associated metabolic dysfunction (i.e., dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis) in adult offspring. We chose to only examine male offspring in this study as we have previously reported that female offspring are largely resistant to the metabolic programming influence of maternal obesity in this model with respect to the study outcomes [29,30].…”

Maternal pea fiber supplementation to a high calorie diet in obese pregnancies protects male offspring from metabolic dysfunction in adulthood

“…Hepatic TG was extracted from frozen tissue and analyzed with a commercial kit (Zenbio, STG-1-NC) according to previously published work. 21…”

“…44 Additionally, we recently reported that maternal consumption of a yellow-pea protein-supplemented diet throughout pregnancy and lactation protected against hepatic TG accumulation in male offspring. 21 Hence, the benefits of yellow peas with respect to hepatic steatosis are likely fraction-specific and the greatest potential benefits may be realized through consumption of whole yellow peas or by combining different yellow-pea fractions to obtain a specific desired metabolic effect. Interestingly, a recent longitudinal study in humans using multiple 24-h maternal pregnancy diet recalls and MRI assessment of hepatic fat in children (4-8 years old) reported that higher maternal fiber intake was associated with lower hepatic fat in offspring.…”