High-fat diet, inflammation and metabolic programming: effects on insulin signaling in newly weaned and adult offspring of mice

Modern lifestyle has resulted in an increase in the prevalence of obesity and its comorbidities in pregnancy and young population. Many effects from direct consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) on glucose and lipid metabolism are well established. However, it is important to assess whether maternal consumption of HFD during critical periods of development can trigger epigenetic mechanisms, perpetuating changes in offspring metabolism and creating a vicious circle that cannot be broken. This study evaluated the potential effect of metabolic programming in impairing the insulin signaling in recently weaned offspring of obese dams. In addition, we investigated if early exposure to obesogenic environment is able to exacerbate the impairment of glucose metabolism in adult life in response to a high-fat diet. For this, Swiss female mice were fed with Stardard chow (SC) or HFD before and during mating, gestation and lactation. Tissues from male offspring were obtained at d28 and d82 to analyze activation of key proteins of inflammatory and insulin signaling pathways by Western Blot. Offspring of obese dams (HC-O) showed greater weight gain, adiposity and food intake than offspring of control dams (CC-O). Furthermore, they showed impairment in insulin signaling in central and peripheral tissues, associated to increased activation of inflammatory pathways. The HFD re-exposure seems to be an aggravating factor in development of obese phenotype leading to systemic insulin resistance and hyperleptinaemia. Moreover, adipose tissue was ultimately the most affected tissue in adult offspring after HFD rechallenged (HH-O) which may have contributed to the metabolic deregulation observed. Together our results suggest that maternal consumption of high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation can cause changes in glucose metabolism of offspring in both weaned and adult animals. Additionally, maternal obesity leads to increase susceptibility to the development of obesity and impairment in insulin signaling in offspring that cannot be reversed by SC consumption, but can be aggravated especially when re-exposed to HFD (AU)