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Effects of Paternal Hypothalamic Obesity and Taurine Supplementation on Adiposity and Vascular Reactivity in Rat Offspring

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Taurine 9

Abstract

Obesity predisposes to the development of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Detrimental impacts of maternal obesity on adiposity and cardiovascular function in offspring are well known, whereas the contribution of obese fathers to these processes is poorly described. Taurine (Tau) regulates glucose homeostasis and cardiovascular function. Here, we analyzed whether paternal obesity may influence adiposity, glucose tolerance and vascular reactivity in their offspring. We also determined whether Tau supplementation in fathers modulates these effects. Male rats received subcutaneous injections of MSG [4 g/kg body weight (BW)] or saline [1.25 g/kg BW, control (CTL)] during the first 5 days of life. At 21 days, rats were distributed into four groups: CTL, MSG, and CTL and MSG supplemented with 2.5 % Tau (CTAU and MTAU). At 90 days of age, all groups were mated with female CTL rats to obtain offspring that were designated according to their fathers’ treatment. MSG-treated rats were obese, hyperinsulinemic and hypertriglyceridemic. Tau decreased fat stores and plasma triglyceride levels in MTAU. At 5 months of age, female offspring from MSG rats demonstrated higher retroperitoneal and perigonadal fat stores. While male offspring did not exhibit any alteration in adiposity or glucose homeostasis, the aortas of these rats had a lower maximal vasodilatory response to acetylcholine (Ach). In contrast, Ach-induced aorta relaxation was normal in MTAU offspring. In conclusion, data indicate that MSG-hypothalamic obesity in fathers may contribute to obesity, in female offspring, and vascular dysfunction in male offspring, and that supplementation of Tau to founders may preserve only vascular function

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Abbreviations

Ach:

Acetylcholine

AUC:

Area under curve

BW:

Body weight

CHOL:

Cholesterol

CTAU:

CTL supplemented with Tau

CTL:

Control

ipGTT:

Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test

MSG:

Monosodium glutamate

MTAU:

MSG supplemented with Tau

NO:

Nitric oxide

Phe:

Phenylephrine

RIA:

Radioimmunoassay

Tau:

Taurine

TG:

Triglycerides

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPERJ); Conselho Nacional para o Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Instituto Nacional de Obesidade e Diabetes (CNPq/FAPESP). We thank Nicola Conran for editing English.

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Correspondence to Rosane Aparecida Ribeiro .

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de Fátima Leão, V. et al. (2015). Effects of Paternal Hypothalamic Obesity and Taurine Supplementation on Adiposity and Vascular Reactivity in Rat Offspring. In: Marcinkiewicz, J., Schaffer, S. (eds) Taurine 9. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 803. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15126-7_60

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