Abstract
Maternal exercise is crucial for promoting the health of the offspring. Previous studies showed that long-term maternal exercise improves energy metabolism during pregnancy. Whether swimming exercise can reverse the metabolic disorders caused by high-fat exposure in the early life of the offspring is yet to be elucidated. Three-week-old C57BL/6 female mice were randomly assigned to the standard chow diet group (SC), standard chow diet and exercise group (SC-Ex), high-fat diet group (HFD), and high-fat diet and exercise group (HFD-Ex). After swimming intervention for 13 weeks, male and female mice were caged, and the exercise intervention lasted until delivery. Then, the mothers were fed standard chow diet. A total of 8 offsprings/group were randomly selected after 4 weeks of lactation for GTT and ITT. After body composition analysis, the mice were sacrificed to obtain specimens. The levels of metabolism factors and IL-6 were measured by suspension microarray. Subsequently, 15 min after starting the GTT and ITT, the curve detected significant difference between the HFD and other groups. The body fat percentage of the HFD-Ex offspring was significantly lower than that of HFD offspring (p < 0.05) irrespective of the gender. The levels of IL-6 and TG in the male offspring in the HFD-Ex group were improved significantly (p < 0.05). Compared to the HFD offspring, serum glucose and GIP in the female offspring in the HFD-Ex group was significantly reduced (p < 0.05). Long-term exercise of the mother effectively improved the metabolic disorder caused by high-fat exposure in the infant offspring. Thus, the metabolic inheritance of the offspring is gender-dependent; the maternal metabolism can make male offspring genetically susceptible.
Highlights
Diseases in the adult stage usually begin in the fetal stage, and exposure of the mother to the detrimental environment can make the offspring infected with the diseases in later life [1, 2]
After 4 weeks of lactation, Glucose tolerance test (GTT) was found to be significantly different between the four groups at 15 min after injection; no significant difference was detected at the other time points
Obesity caused by low physical activity and high-fat diet (HFD) in perinatal mothers disrupts the neuroendocrine system in the offspring, which is mainly reflected in metabolism and feeding control, resulting in metabolic diseases and genetic susceptibility [8, 9]
Summary
Diseases in the adult stage usually begin in the fetal stage, and exposure of the mother to the detrimental environment can make the offspring infected with the diseases in later life [1, 2]. The theory of developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis (DOHaD) speculated that poor uterine environment affects the fetal metabolic mode, growth, and development and increases the incidence of chronic diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Adequate physical exercise and activity during pregnancy is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle This affects the health of the fetus in a short time and has a specific positive significance in the long-term growth and development of the offspring. Exercise is of positive significance to the growth and development of the offspring, the growth and metabolism occur at a specific stage and sensitive period, especially early life and childhood. (1) In the infant stage of offspring (postweaning), the mother can prevent the developmental tendency of obesity in the offspring caused by high fat of the mother through long-term swimming before and during pregnancy. We proposed the following hypotheses. (1) In the infant stage of offspring (postweaning), the mother can prevent the developmental tendency of obesity in the offspring caused by high fat of the mother through long-term swimming before and during pregnancy. (2) The influence of high fat and exercise of the mother on the offspring is based on gender inheritance. (3) The exercise of the mother improves the metabolic dysfunction in the infant stage of the offspring
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