Maternal obesity accelerates rat offspring metabolic ageing in a sex‐dependent manner (original) (raw)

Key points Maternal obesity predisposes to metabolic dysfunction in male and female offspring Maternal high‐fat diet consumption prior to and throughout pregnancy and lactation accelerates offspring metabolic ageing in a sex‐dependent manner This study provides evidence for programming‐ageing interactions Human epidemiological studies show that maternal obesity (MO) shortens offspring life and health span. Life course cellular mechanisms involved in this developmental programming‐ageing interaction are poorly understood. In a well‐established rat MO model, female Wistar rats ate chow (controls (C)) or high energy, obesogenic diet to induce MO from weaning through pregnancy and lactation. Females were bred at postnatal day (PND) 120. Offspring (F1) of mothers on control diet (CF1) and MO diet (MOF1) delivered spontaneously at terms. Both CF1 and MOF1 ate C diet from weaning throughout the study. Offspring were killed at PND 36, 110, 450 and 650. We determined body and liver weights, ...