Effect of Gestational Fish Oil Supplementation on Liver Metabolism and Mitochondria of Male and Female Rat Offspring Programmed by Maternal High-Fat Diet

Mol Nutr Food Res. 2023 Feb 13:e2200479. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.202200479. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

SCOPE: Perinatal maternal moderately high-fat diet (mHFD) is associated with obesity and fatty liver disease in the offspring, and maternal fish oil (FO: n-3 PUFA source) supplementation may attenuate these disorders. We evaluated the effects of FO given to pregnant rats fed a mHFD on the offspring´s liver at weaning.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Female Wistar rats received isoenergetic, control (CT: 10.9% from fat) or high-fat (HF: 28.7% from fat) diet before mating, and throughout pregnancy and lactation. FO supplementation (HFFO: 2.9% of FO in the HF diet) was given to one subgroup of HF dams during pregnancy. At weaning, male and female mHFD offspring displayed higher body mass, adiposity, and hepatic cellular damage, steatosis, and inflammation, accompanied by increased damaged mitochondria. FO did not protect pups from systemic metabolic alterations and partially mitigated hepatic histological damage induced by mHFD only in females. However, FO reduced mRNA expression of lipogenic genes, and mitochondrial damage, and modified mitochondrial morphology suggestive of early adaptations via mitochondrial dynamics.

CONCLUSIONS: Gestational FO supplementation had limited beneficial effects on the damage caused by perinatal mHFD consumption in offspring´s liver at weaning. However, FO imprinting effect on lipid metabolism and mitochondria may have beneficial long-term outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:36782400 | DOI:10.1002/mnfr.202200479