Abstract
Maternal obesity is associated with obesity and metabolic disorders in offspring. However, intervention strategies to reverse or ameliorate the effects of maternal obesity on offspring health are limited. Following maternal undernutrition, taurine supplementation can improve outcomes in offspring, possibly via effects on glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion. The effects of taurine in mediating inflammatory processes as a protective mechanism has not been investigated. Further, the efficacy of taurine supplementation in the setting of maternal obesity is not known. Using a model of maternal obesity, we examined the effects of maternal taurine supplementation on outcomes related to inflammation and lipid metabolism in mothers and neonates. Time-mated Wistar rats were randomised to either: 1) control : control diet during pregnancy and lactation (CON); 2) CON supplemented with 1.5% taurine in drinking water (CT); 3) maternal obesogenic diet (high fat, high fructose) during pregnancy and lactation (MO); or 4) MO supplemented with taurine (MOT). Maternal and neonatal weights, plasma cytokines and hepatic gene expression were analysed. A MO diet resulted in maternal hyperinsulinemia and hyperleptinemia and increased plasma glucose, glutamate and TNF-α concentrations. Taurine normalised maternal plasma TNF-α and glutamate concentrations in MOT animals. Both MO and MOT mothers displayed evidence of fatty liver accompanied by alterations in key markers of hepatic lipid metabolism. MO neonates displayed a pro-inflammatory hepatic profile which was partially rescued in MOT offspring. Conversely, a pro-inflammatory phenotype was observed in MOT mothers suggesting a possible maternal trade-off to protect the neonate. Despite protective effects of taurine in MOT offspring, neonatal mortality was increased in CT neonates, indicating possible adverse effects of taurine in the setting of normal pregnancy. These data suggest that maternal taurine supplementation may ameliorate the adverse effects observed in offspring following a maternal obesogenic diet but these effects are dependent upon prior maternal nutritional background.
Highlights
Obesity and overweight during pregnancy has become a major emerging issue for maternal and neonatal health over the past decade [1,2]
Maternal and Offspring Weights A maternal obesogenic diet resulted in an overall increase in maternal body weights in both maternal obesogenic diet group (MO) and maternal obesogenic diet and taurine group (MOT) groups (Figure 1) during pregnancy compared to control group (CON) and control taurine group (CT) groups and was statistically significant from day 8 to day 18 gestation
Of note there was a small decrease in maternal body weights in CT dams compared to CON which was not evident in the MOT group and this was reflected in a significant maternal diet x taurine statistical interaction (p,0.0001)
Summary
Obesity and overweight during pregnancy has become a major emerging issue for maternal and neonatal health over the past decade [1,2]. The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) paradigm proposes that insults such as poor maternal nutrition during critical windows of development, can lead to an increased propensity in offspring to develop obesity and related metabolic and cardiovascular disorders in later life [8]. Both human studies [9,10] and animal models [11,12] clearly show a link between maternal obesity and heightened risk of metabolic disorders in offspring, yet relatively little is known about the mechanisms involved. Broad lifestyle recommendations remain the most common preventative strategies [7]
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