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Maternal Western Diet Programs Cardiometabolic Dysfunction and Hypothalamic Inflammation via Epigenetic Mechanisms Predominantly in the Male Offspring [RNA-seq]

ABSTRACT: Maternal exposure during pregnancy is a strong determinant of offspring health outcomes. Such exposures induce changes in the offspring epigenome resulting in gene expression and functional changes. In this study, we investigated the effect of maternal Western hypercaloric diet (HCD) programming during the perinatal period and its effect on neuronal plasticity and cardiometabolic health in adult offspring. C57BL/6J dams were fed HCD for 1 month prior to mating with regular diet (RD) sires and kept on the same diet throughout pregnancy and lactation. At weaning, offspring were maintained on either HCD or RD for 3 months duration. Maternal programming resulted in male-specific hypertension and hyperglycemia, with both males and females showing increased sympathetic tone to the vasculature. Surprisingly, programmed male offspring fed on HCD exhibited lower glucose levels, less insulin resistance, and leptin levels compared to non-programmed HCD-fed male mice. Hypothalamic genes involved in glial and astrocytic differentiation were differentially methylated in programmed male offspring. Genes involved in inflammation and type 2 diabetes were targeted by differentially expressed miRNA in programmed male offspring. Methyl-seq data were supported by our findings of astrogliosis and microgliosis as well as increased microglial activation in programmed males in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Aligned with programming-induced protective effect in HCD male mice, we observed lower protein levels of hypothalamic TGFβ2, NF-κB2, NF-κBp65, Ser-pIRS1, and GLP1R compared to non-programmed HCD-fed male mice. In conclusion, our study shows that maternal HCD programs neuronal plasticity in the offspring and results in male-specific hypertension and hyperglycemia. On the other hand, we observed a compensatory role of programming potentially by priming metabolic pathways to handle excess nutrients in a more efficient way.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE242187 | GEO | 2024/01/31

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Though obesity is a global epidemic, the physiological mechanisms involved are little understood. Recent advances reveal that susceptibility to obesity can be programmed by maternal and neonatal nutrition. Specifically, a maternal low protein diet during pregnancy causes decreased intrauterine growth, rapid postnatal catch-up growth and increased risk for diet-induced obesity. Given that the synthesis of the neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is nutritionally regulated and 5-HT is a trophic factor, we hypothesized that maternal diet influences fetal 5-HT exposure, which then influences central appetite network development and the subsequent efficacy of 5-HT to control energy balance in later life. Consistent with our hypothesis, pregnant low protein fed rat mothers exhibited elevated serum 5-HT, which was also evident in the placenta and fetal brains at E16.5. This increase was associated with reduced hypothalamic expression of 5-HT2CR - the primary 5-HT receptor influencing appetite. As expected, reduced 5-HT2CR expression was associated with impaired sensitivity to 5-HT-mediated appetite suppression. 5-HT primarily achieves effects on appetite via 5-HT2CR stimulation of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) peptides within the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC). We reveal that 5-HT2ARs are also anatomically positioned to influence the activity of ARC POMC and that 5-HT2AR mRNA is increased in the hypothalamus of in utero growth restricted offspring that underwent rapid postnatal catch-up growth. Furthermore, these animals are more sensitive to 5-HT2AR agonist-induced appetite suppression. These findings may not only reveal a 5-HT-mediated mechanism underlying programming of obesity susceptibility but also provide a promising means to correct it, via a 5-HT2AR agonist treatment. The study was carried out using male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus). On postnatal day 3, two experimental groups of offspring were established: controls (offspring of control dams) and recuperated (offspring of dams fed a low-protein diet (8% protein, w/v), but nursed by control dams. The animals were fed with standard chow until 3 months of age where the brains were collected for transcriptomic profiling

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Maternal Western Diet Programs Cardiometabolic Dysfunction and Hypothalamic Inflammation via Epigenetic Mechanisms Predominantly in the Male Offspring [RNA-seq]

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