High-fat diet reprograms the epigenome of rat spermatozoa and transgenerationally affects metabolism of the offspring.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Chronic and high consumption of fat constitutes an environmental stress that leads to metabolic diseases. We hypothesized that high-fat diet (HFD) transgenerationally remodels the epigenome of spermatozoa and metabolism of the offspring.

Methods

F0-male rats fed either HFD or chow diet for 12 weeks were mated with chow-fed dams to generate F1 and F2 offspring. Motile spermatozoa were isolated from F0 and F1 breeders to determine DNA methylation and small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) expression pattern by deep sequencing.

Results

Newborn offspring of HFD-fed fathers had reduced body weight and pancreatic beta-cell mass. Adult female, but not male, offspring of HFD-fed fathers were glucose intolerant and resistant to HFD-induced weight gain. This phenotype was per

SUBMITTER: de Castro Barbosa T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4770269 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature