The impact of exposure to cafeteria diet during pregnancy or lactation on offspring growth and adiposity before weaning

George, Grace; Draycott, Sally A.V.; Muir, Ronan; Clifford, Bethan; Elmes, Matthew J.; Langley-Evans, Simon C.

Abstract

Exposure to maternal obesity during early-life can have adverse consequences for offspring growth and adiposity. We aimed to assess the relative contributions of exposure to maternal obesity, induced by a highly varied cafeteria diet, during pregnancy and lactation on these measures in rat offspring prior to weaning. Female Wistar rats were fed either a control (C) or cafeteria diet (O) for 8 weeks before mating, throughout pregnancy and lactation. Offspring were cross-fostered at birth to a dam on the same (CC,OO) or alternate diet prior to birth (CO,OC). Feeding a cafeteria diet based on 40 different foods, was associated with a sustained period of elevated energy intake before birth and during lactation (up to 1.7-fold), through increased sugar, total fat and saturated fat intake, and lower protein consumption. Cafeteria fed dams sustained greater weight than animals fed a control chow diet and greater perirenal adiposity by the end of lactation. Exposure to obesity during pregnancy was associated with lower offspring birth weight and body weight in early-postnatal life. In contrast, exposure during lactation alone reduced offspring weight but increased adiposity in male CO offspring before weaning. This research highlights that exposure to maternal obesity during lactation alone can programme adiposity in a sex specific manner.

Citation

George, G., Draycott, S. A., Muir, R., Clifford, B., Elmes, M. J., & Langley-Evans, S. C. (2019). The impact of exposure to cafeteria diet during pregnancy or lactation on offspring growth and adiposity before weaning. Scientific Reports, 9, Article 14173. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50448-x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 12, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Oct 2, 2019
• Publication Date: Oct 2, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 19, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 2, 2019
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Article Number: 14173
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50448-x
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2634855
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50448-x
• Additional Information: Received: 12 April 2019; Accepted: 12 September 2019; First Online: 2 October 2019; : The authors declare no competing interests.