Abstract
Adipogenesis and lipogenesis are highly sensitive to the nutritional environment in utero and in early postnatal life. Omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) inhibit adipogenesis and lipogenesis in adult rats, however it is not known whether supplementing the maternal diet with omega-3 LCPUFA results in reduced fat deposition in the offspring. Female Albino Wistar rats were fed either a standard chow (Control, n = 10) or chow designed to provide ∼15 mg/kg/day of omega-3 LCPUFA, chiefly as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), throughout pregnancy and lactation (Omega-3, n = 11) and all pups were weaned onto a commercial rat chow. Blood and tissues were collected from pups at 3 and 6 weeks of age and weights of visceral and subcutaneous fat depots recorded. The expression of adipogenic and lipogenic genes in the subcutaneous and visceral fat depots were determined using quantitative real time reverse transcription-PCR. Birth weight and postnatal growth were not different between groups. At 6 weeks of age, total percentage body fat was significantly increased in both male (5.09 ± 0.32% vs. 4.56 ± 0.2%, P < 0.04) and female (5.15 ± 0.37% vs. 3.89 ± 0.36%, P < 0.04) offspring of omega-3 dams compared to controls. The omega-3 LCPUFA content of erythrocyte phospholipids (as a% of total fatty acids) was higher in omega-3 offspring (6.7 ± 0.2% vs. 5.6 ± 0.2%, P < 0.001). There was no effect of maternal omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation on the expression of adipogenic or lipogenic genes in the offspring in either the visceral or subcutaneous fat depots. We have therefore established that an omega-3 rich environment during pregnancy and lactation in a rodent model increases fat accumulation in both male and female offspring, particularly in subcutaneous depots, but that this effect is not mediated via upregulation adipogenic/lipogenic gene transcription. These data suggest that maternal n−3 LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy/lactation may not be an effective strategy for reducing fat deposition in the offspring.
Highlights
Obesity is a major public health issue in both industrialized and semi-industrialized nations across the world (World Health Organisation, 2006)
We have shown that maternal omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy and lactation was without effect on body weight or fat mass of offspring at weaning, and was associated with a significant increase in percentage body fat at 6 weeks of age in both males and females when offspring were weaned onto a standard rat feed which was not supplemented with omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA)
We found no effect of maternal omega-3 supplementation on the expression of adipogenic and lipogenic genes in either the retroperitoneal or subcutaneous fat depots at 6 weeks of age, which implies that the increase in subcutaneous fat accumulation was the result of a mechanism other than the upregulation of lipogenic gene expression
Summary
Obesity is a major public health issue in both industrialized and semi-industrialized nations across the world (World Health Organisation, 2006). Whilst many factors contribute to the development of obesity, there is evidence that the risk an individual has of becoming obese in later life is related to the nutritional environment they experience before birth and in early infancy (McMillen and Robinson, 2005). A world-wide series of human epidemiological and experimental animal studies in both rodents and large animal models have shown that exposure to an excess supply of energy during critical periods of fetal and infant development is associated with an increased propensity toward excess accumulation of body fat in later life (Plagemann et al, 1997; Armitage et al, 2004; McMillen and Robinson, 2005). It has been suggested that increasing the supply of factors which suppress fat accumulation in early life may be effective in reducing body fat mass in child and adult hood (Hauner et al, 2009)
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