Maternal high fat diet induces circadian clock-independent endocrine alterations impacting metabolism of the offspring
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Maternal obesity has long-term effects on offspring metabolic health. Among the potential mechanisms, prior research has indicated potential disruptions in circadian rhythms and gut microbiota in the offspring. To challenge this hypothesis, we implemented a maternal high fat diet regimen before and during pregnancy, followed by a standard diet after birth. Our findings confirm that maternal obesity impacts offspring birth weight and glucose and lipid metabolisms. However, we found minimal impact on circadian rhythms and microbiota that are predominantly driven by the feeding/fasting cycle. Notably, maternal obesity altered rhythmic liver gene expression, affecting mitochondrial function and inflammatory response without disrupting the hepatic circadian clock. These changes could be explained by a masculinisation of liver gene expression similar to the changes observed in polycystic ovarian syndrome. Intriguingly, such alterations seem to provide the first-generation offspring with a degree of protection against obesity when exposed to a high fat diet.
Project description:Obesity is a global health concern affecting over 650 million adults with a major contributor being an increased consumption of a high-fat diet. Maternal obesity often results in an increased risk of offspring developing obesity. In this study, we examined the effect of diet on visceral adipose in a pre-clinical model of generational diet-induced obesity that included maternal cohorts of C57BL/6 mice fed either a control diet (10% fat) or a high-fat diet (45% fat) and the resulting female offspring fed either diet. Using bottom-up proteomics on omental adipose tissue, differential protein expression was determined with the greatest difference resulting from the generational obese cohort. Differentially expressed proteins were involved in pathways related to cancer, inflammatory disease and immune response. Taken together, the results of this study provide molecular-level insight that will enable the development of more targeted, modifiable interventions that could be implemented pre-, during and post-pregnancy.
Project description:Background: Epidemiological studies suggest an association between maternal obesity and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. Objective: To compare the global proteomic portrait in the cerebral cortex between mice born to mothers on a high-fat or control diet who themselves were fed a high-fat or control diet. Methods: Male mice born to dams fed a control (C) or high fat (H) diet four weeks before conception and during gestation and lactation were assigned to either C or H diet at weaning. Mice (n=24) were sacrificed at 19-weeks and their cerebral cortices were pooled into 8 samples and analysed using an iTRAQ based 2D LC-MS methodology. Results: A total of 6,695 proteins were identified and fully quantified (q<0.01). Approximately 10% of these proteins demonstrated a minimum of one Standard Deviation of regulation across all biological replicates in at least one of the experimental groups (CH, HC, HH) relative to the control (CC). Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis showed that mice clustered based on the diet of the mother and not their current diet. In silico bioinformatics analysis revealed that maternal high-fat diet was significantly associated with response to hypoxia/oxidative stress and apoptosis in the cerebral cortex of the adult offspring. Conclusion: Maternal high-fat diet was associated with distinct endophenotypic changes of the adult mouse cerebral cortex independent of the diet of the offspring. The identified modulated proteins could represent novel therapeutic targets for the prevention of neuropathological features resulting from maternal obesity.
Project description:Maternal obesity can program metabolic syndrome in offspring but the mechanisms are not well characterized. Moreover, the consequences of maternal overnutrition in the absence of frank obesity remain poorly understood. This study aimed to determine the effects of maternal consumption of a high fat-sucrose diet on the skeletal muscle metabolic and transcriptional profiles of adult offspring. Female Sprague Dawley rats were fed either a diet rich in saturated fat and sucrose (HFD, 23.5% fat, 20% sucrose wt/wt) or a standard chow diet (NFD, 7% fat, 10% sucrose w/w) for the 3 weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. Although maternal weights were not different between groups at conception or weaning, HFD dams were ~22% heavier than chow fed dams from mid-pregnancy until 4 days post-partum. Adult male offspring of HFD dams were not heavier than controls but demonstrated features of insulin resistance including elevated plasma insulin concentration (+40%, P<0.05). Next Generation mRNA Sequencing was used to identify differentially expressed genes in the soleus muscle of offspring, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to detect coordinated changes that are characteristic of a biological function. GSEA identified 15 pathways enriched for up-regulated genes, including cytokine signaling (P<0.005), starch and sucrose metabolism (P<0.017), and inflammatory response (P<0.024). A further 8 pathways were significantly enriched for down-regulated genes including oxidative phosphorylation (P<0.004) and electron transport (P<0.022). Western blots confirmed a ~60% reduction in the phosphorylation of the insulin signaling protein Akt (P<0.05) and ~70% reduction in mitochondrial complexes II (P<0.05) and V expression (P<0.05). On a normal diet, offspring of HFD dams developed an insulin resistant phenotype, with transcriptional evidence of muscle cytokine activation, inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction. These data indicate that maternal overnutrition, even in the absence of pre-pregnancy obesity can promote metabolic dysregulation and predispose offspring to type 2 diabetes. Messenger RNA profile of skeletal muscle of male offspring from female Sprague Dawley rats fed either a diet rich in saturated fat and sucrose (HFD, 23.5% fat, 20% sucrose wt/wt) or a standard chow diet (NFD, 7% fat, 10% sucrose w/w) for the 3 weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. There were 5 HFD samples compared to 6 NFD control samples.
Project description:Maternal obesity programs the offspring to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and obesity. We sequenced and profiled the cardiac miRNAs that were dysregulated in the hearts of baboon fetuses born to a high fat / high fructose diet fed mothers compared to a regular diet fed mothers.
Project description:Maternal obesity is a growing health concern that predisposes offspring to metabolic dysfunction, immune system alterations, and neurodegenerative disorders. To investigate the intergenerational effects of maternal obesity, we used Drosophila melanogaster models exposed to high-sugar (HSD) and high-fat diets (HFD). We found that maternal diet-induced obesity significantly altered offspring lifespan, immune function, and neuronal health in a sex- and diet-specific manner. Male offspring were particularly susceptible, exhibiting reduced lifespan, impaired climbing ability, and increased axonal degeneration, especially following maternal HFD exposure. Transcriptomic analyses revealed age-dependent and diet-specific changes, with males showing pronounced alterations at 50 days of age. Developmental programming of hemocytes (macrophage-like cells) played a crucial role in these outcomes, as knockdown of key immune pathways such as Relish and Upd3 in hemocytes further influenced lifespan in a diet-specific manner. These findings highlight the complex interplay between maternal diet and immune function, underscoring the importance of immune cells in mediating the long-term health consequences of maternal obesity. Our study provides new insights into conserved mechanisms linking maternal metabolic health to offspring outcomes and emphasizes the continued need for animal models to understand intergenerational health impacts.
Project description:In obesity, misalignment of feeding time with the light/dark environment results in disruption of peripheral circadian clocks. Conversely, restricting feeding to the active period mitigates metabolic syndrome through mechanisms that remain unknown. Here we show that adipocyte thermogenesis is essential for the healthful metabolic response to time restricted feeding. Genetic enhancement of adipocyte thermogenesis through ablation of Zfp423 attenuates obesity caused by circadian mistimed high fat diet feeding through a mechanism involving creatine metabolism. Circadian control of adipocyte creatine metabolism underlies timing of diet-induced thermogenesis, and enhancement of adipocyte circadian rhythms through overexpression of the clock activator Bmal1 ameliorates metabolic complications during diet induced obesity. These findings establish creatine mediated diet-induced thermogenesis as a bioenergetic mechanism driving metabolic benefits during time-restricted feeding.
Project description:Circadian rhythmicity is a defining feature of mammalian metabolism that synchronizes metabolic processes to day-night light cycles. Here, we show that the intestinal microbiota programs diurnal metabolic rhythms in the mouse small intestine through histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3). The microbiota induced expression of intestinal epithelial HDAC3, which was recruited rhythmically to chromatin and produced synchronized diurnal oscillations in histone acetylation, metabolic gene expression, and nutrient uptake. HDAC3 also functioned non-canonically to coactivate estrogen related receptor a (ERRa), inducing microbiota-dependent rhythmic transcription of the lipid transporter gene Cd36 and promoting lipid absorption and diet-induced obesity. Our findings reveal that HDAC3 integrates microbial and circadian cues to regulate diurnal metabolic rhythms, and pinpoint a key mechanism by which the microbiota controls host metabolism.
Project description:Aims: Epidemiological and animal studies have shown that maternal diet can influence metabolism in adult offspring. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes remain poorly understood. Here, we aim to explore phenotypes induced by maternal obesity in a mouse model and examine gene expression and epigenetic alterations in adulthood induced by maternal diet. Methods: We analyzed genetically identical male mice born from dams fed a high- or low-fat diet throughout pregnancy and until day 21 postpartum. After weaning, half of the males of each group were fed a high-fat diet, the other half a low-fat diet. We first characterized the genome-wide gene expression patterns of six tissues of adult offspring - liver, pancreas, white adipose, brain, muscle and heart [GSE40903] . We then measured DNA methylation patterns in liver at selected loci and throughout the genome. Results: Maternal diet had a significant effect on the body weight of the offspring when they are fed an obesogenic diet after weaning. Our analyses showed that maternal diet had a pervasive effect on gene expression, with a pronounced effect in liver where it affected many genes involved in inflammation, cholesterol synthesis and RXR activation. Maternal diet had no detectable effect on DNA methylation in the liver. Conclusions: Overall, our findings highlighted the persistent influence of maternal diet on adult tissue regulation and suggested that the transcriptional changes were unlikely to be caused by DNA methylation differences in adult liver. Methylation is compared between nine week old animals fed a common diet as adults, but derived from mothers fed different diets.
Project description:Maternal obesity programs the offspring to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and obesity. We sequenced and profiled the cardiac miRNAs that were dysregulated in the hearts of baboon fetuses born to a high fat / high fructose diet fed mothers compared to a regular diet fed mothers. Fetal hearts were collected from baboon fetuses born to obese and lean mothers, total RNA was isolated, and fetal cardiac miRNA were sequenced and profiled
Project description:The global prevalence of obesity is increasing across age and gender. The rising burden of obesity in young people contributes to the early emergence of type 2 diabetes. Having one parent obese is an independent risk factor for childhood obesity. While the detrimental impact of diet-induced maternal obesity on offspring is well established, the extent of the contribution of obese fathers is unclear, as is the role of non-genetic factors in the casual pathway. Here we show that paternal high fat diet exposure programmed β-cell âdysfunctionâ in their F1 female offspring. Chronic high fat diet consumption in Sprague Dawley fathers led to increased body weight, adiposity, impaired glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Relative to controls, their female offspring had lower body weight at day-1, increased pubertal growth rate, impaired insulin secretion and glucose tolerance, in the absence of obesity or increased adiposity. Paternal high fat diet was observed to alter gene expression of pancreatic islet genes in adult female offspring (P < 0.001); affected functional clusters includes calcium ion binding, insulin, apoptosis, Wnt and cell cycle organ/system development. This is the first reported study in mammals describing non-genetic, intergenerational transmission of metabolic sequelae of high fat diet from father to offspring. These findings support a role of fathers in metabolic programming of offspring and form a framework for further studies. F0 founders were male Sprague Dawley rats, divided into two groups, high fat (HF) and control. The HF fathers were given commercially prepared high-fat pellets (43% as fat); while the controls ate standard laboratory chow (9% as fat). The two groups of fathers had distinct phenotype; the HF fathers were significantly heavier with increased adiposity, they were also glucose intolerant and insulin resistant. At 15 weeks of age, fathers were mated with normal females consuming chow, to generate the F1 offspring. Only female offspring were studied. Female offspring were weaned unto standard laboratory chow at 3 weeks. At 6 and 12 weeks, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IpGTT) was performed to measure blood glucose and insulin profile; at 11 weeks, intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test was done. The body weight and adiposity of these offspring were not different between the two groups. The HF offspring had glucose intolerance and impaired glucose-induced insulin response, mainly at the acute phase, observed since 6 weeks. The IpITT was not different between groups. At 13 weeks, islets were harvested from the two groups of offspring.