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Maternal High-Fat-Diet Programs Rat Offspring Liver Fatty Acid Metabolism

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  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

In offspring exposed in utero to a maternal diet high in fat (HF), we have previously demonstrated that despite similar birth weights, HF adult offspring at 6 months of age had significantly higher body weights, greater adiposity, and increased triacylglycerol (TAG) levels as compared to controls. We hypothesized that a maternal HF diet predisposes to offspring adiposity via a programmed increase in the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids in the liver and hence increased substrate availability for liver TAG synthesis. We further hypothesized that programmed changes in offspring liver fatty acid metabolism are associated with increased liver expression of the lipogenic enzyme stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD-1). Female rats were maintained on a HF diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) prior to and throughout pregnancy and lactation. After birth, newborns were nursed by the same dam, and all offspring were weaned to control diet. Plasma and liver fatty acid compositions were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Fatty acid C16 desaturation indices of palmitoleic/palmitic and (vaccenic + palmitoleic)/palmitic and the C18 desaturation index of oleic/stearic were calculated. Liver protein abundance of SCD-1 was analyzed in newborns and adult offspring. Plasma and liver C16 desaturation indices were decreased in HF newborns, but increased in the adult offspring. Liver SCD-1 expression was increased in the HF adult offspring. These data show that the maternal HF diet during pregnancy and lactation increases offspring liver SCD-1 protein abundance and alters the liver C16 desaturase pathway.

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Abbreviations

SCD-1:

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1

HF:

High fat

SFA:

Saturated fatty acid

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acids

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

DI:

Desaturation index

E20:

Embryonic day 20

P1:

1 Day of postnatal age

P21:

3 Weeks postnatal age

GC/MS:

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

KOH:

Potassium hydroxide

HCl:

Hydrochloric acid

SE:

Standard error

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Acknowledgments

We thank Stacy Behare for her assistance in animal husbandry and tissue retrieval. We are grateful to Dr. Wai-Nang Paul Lee for his support and guidance with fatty acid analysis. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health Grants R01DK081756 and R01HD054751. Fatty acid analyses were performed at the Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Facility, supported by UCLA CTSI Grant UL1TR000124, at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Perinatal Research Laboratories, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1124 West Carson Street Box 446, RB-1 Bldg., Torrance, CA, 90502, USA

    Emily L. Seet, Juanita K. Jellyman, Guang Han, Michael G. Ross & Mina Desai

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Emily L. Seet, Michael G. Ross & Mina Desai

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA

    Jennifer K. Yee

  4. Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jennifer K. Yee

Authors
  1. Emily L. Seet
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  2. Jennifer K. Yee
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  3. Juanita K. Jellyman
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  4. Guang Han
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  5. Michael G. Ross
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  6. Mina Desai
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Correspondence to Mina Desai.

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Seet, E.L., Yee, J.K., Jellyman, J.K. et al. Maternal High-Fat-Diet Programs Rat Offspring Liver Fatty Acid Metabolism. Lipids 50, 565–573 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4018-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4018-8

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