PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Mother's high-fat diet alters metabolism in offspring, leading to higher obesity risk

2014-01-23
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University
Mother's high-fat diet alters metabolism in offspring, leading to higher obesity risk The offspring of obese mothers consuming a high-fat diet during pregnancy are at a higher risk than the children of thin mothers for lifelong obesity, and related metabolic disorders. The molecular and cellular basis for these differences are clarified in a new study published in the Jan. 23 issue of Cell by researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the University of Cologne.

Conducted in mice, the study showed that the offspring of mothers who consumed a high-fat diet during lactation had abnormal neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus - a key brain region that regulates metabolism.

"Our study suggests that expecting mothers can have major impact on the long-term metabolic health of their children by properly controlling nutrition during this critical developmental period of the offspring," said the study's co-lead author Tamas Horvath, the Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Research and chair of comparative medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

Horvath and his collaborators at the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research and at the University of Cologne developed a mouse model of metabolic programming. They found that mouse mothers fed a high-fat diet during breastfeeding had offspring with abnormal neuronal connections in the hypothalamus, as well as altered insulin signaling in this brain circuit. As a result, the offspring remained overweight and had abnormalities in glucose metabolism throughout life.

Horvath and his colleagues said the study helps identify the key point in pregnancy when maternal nutrition has the most impact on an offspring's metabolic health.

Because of developmental differences between species - neural circuits in the hypothalamus continue to develop after birth in mice, but are fully developed before birth in humans - the findings suggest that the third trimester of pregnancy in humans is the most critical period. That's when a mother's diet will most likely have long-lasting effects on her offspring's health, according to the researchers.

"Mothers can control or even reverse their offspring's predisposition to obesity and resulting diseases by altering their food intake," said Horvath. "Because gestational diabetes frequently manifests during the third trimester, the results could inform more intense screening of mothers for alterations in glucose metabolism."

### Other authors on the study include Merly C. Vogt, Lars Paeger, Simon Hess, Sophie M. Steculorum, Motoharu Awazawa, Brigitte Hampel, Susanne Neupert, Hayley T. Nicholls, Jan Mauer, A. Christine Hausen, Reinhard Predel, Peter Kloppenburg, Tamas L. Horvath, and Jens C. Brüning.

The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health NIH (DP1 DK006850, R01AG040236, and P01NS062686), the American Diabetes Association, the Helmholtz Society (ICEMED), and The Klarman Foundation.

Citation: Cell: doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.01.008 (Link will be live when embargo lifts).


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Experiments show hypothesis of microtubule steering accurate

2014-01-23
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 23-Jan-2014 [ | E-mail ] var addthis_pub="eurekalert"; var addthis_options = "favorites, delicious, digg, facebook, twitter, google, newsvine, reddit, slashdot, stumbleupon, buzz, more" Share Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State Experiments show hypothesis of microtubule steering accurate VIDEO: This is a movie of a polymerizing microtubule (originating in bottom left corner) encountering a static microtubule ...

What makes cell division accurate?

2014-01-23
Baltimore, MD— As all school-children learn, cells divide using a process called mitosis, which consists of a number of phases during which duplicate copies of the cell's DNA-containing chromosomes are pulled apart and separated into two distinct ...

Ancient forests stabilized Earth's CO2 and climate

2014-01-23
UK researchers have identified a biological mechanism that could explain how the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate were stabilised over the past 24 million years. When CO2 levels became ...

Brain uses serotonin to perpetuate chronic pain signals in local nerves

2014-01-23
Setting the stage for possible advances in pain treatment, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland ...

Sniffed out -- The 'gas detectors' of the plant world

2014-01-23
The elusive trigger that allows plants to 'see' the gas nitric oxide (NO), an important signalling molecule, has been tracked down by scientists at The University of Nottingham. It is the first ...

Does it pay to be a lover or a fighter? It depends on how you woo females

2014-01-23
As ...

A time for memories

2014-01-23
Neuroscientists from the University of Leicester, in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery at ...

Long-term spinal cord stimulation stalls symptoms of Parkinson's-like disease

2014-01-23
DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers at Duke Medicine have shown that continuing spinal cord stimulation appears to produce improvements in symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and ...

Large and in charge

2014-01-23
Bigger really is better – at least it was for early prehistoric life. A NASA research group featuring University of Toronto Mississauga professor Marc Laflamme has helped to explain why some ...

Climate change threatens Winter Olympics

2014-01-23
Only six of the previous Winter Olympics host cities will be cold enough to reliably host the Games by the end of this century if global warming projections ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New drug-eluting balloon may be as safe and effective as conventional metal stents for repeat percutaneous coronary interventions

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of automated external defibrillators in private homes

University of Phoenix College of Social and Behavioral Sciences leadership publishes white paper on trauma-informed education

Microbial iron mining: turning polluted soils into self-cleaning reactors

Molecular snapshots reveal how the body knows it’s too hot

Analysis finds alarming rise in severe diverticulitis among younger Americans

Mitochondria and lysosomes reprogram immune cells that dampen inflammation

Cockroach infestation linked to home allergen, endotoxin levels

New biochar-powered microbial systems offer sustainable solution for toxic pollutants

Identifying the best high-biomass sorghum hybrids based on biomass yield potential and feedstock quality affected by nitrogen fertility management under various environments

How HIV’s shape-shifting protein reveals clues for smarter drug design

Study identifies viral combinations that heighten risk of severe respiratory illnesses in infants

Aboveground rather than belowground productivity drives variability in miscanthus × giganteus net primary productivity

Making yeast more efficient 'cell factories' for producing valuable plant compounds

Aging in plain sight: What new research says the eyes reveal about aging and cardiovascular risk

Child welfare system involvement may improve diagnosis of developmental delays

Heavier electric trucks could strain New York City’s roads and bridges, study warns

From womb to world: scientists reveal how maternal stress programs infant development

Bezos Earth Fund grants $2M to UC Davis and American Heart Association to advance AI-designed foods

Data Protection is transforming humanitarian action in the digital age, new book shows

AI unlocks the microscopic world to transform future manufacturing

Virtual reality helps people understand and care about distant communities

Optica Publishing Group announces subscribe to open pilot for the Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B)

UNF partners with Korey Stringer Institute and Perry Weather to open heat exercise laboratory on campus

DNA from Napoleon’s 1812 army identifies the pathogens likely responsible for the army’s demise during their retreat from Russia

Study suggests two unsuspected pathogens struck Napoleon's army during the retreat from Russia in 1812

The 25-year incidence and progression of hearing loss in the Framingham offspring study

AI-driven nanomedicine breakthrough paves way for personalized breast cancer therapy

Fight or flight—and grow a new limb

Augmenting electroencephalogram transformer for steady-state visually evoked potential-based brain–computer interfaces

[Press-News.org] Mother's high-fat diet alters metabolism in offspring, leading to higher obesity risk