An interaction of the pre- and post-weaning diets rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats alters plasma lipids, hepatic gene expression and aortic vascular reactivity in adult C57BL/6 mice.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of diets rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) fed during pre- and post-weaning time periods on the lipid metabolism and vascular reactivity in adult C57Bl/6 mice, in order to assess the impact of maternal nutrition and its interaction with the offspring diet on the metabolism of adult offspring.


METHODS
Female C57Bl/6 mice were fed a high-fat diet enriched with n-6 PUFA (P) or control diet (C) for 2-weeks before, during mating, gestation and lactation, while their pups received either P or C for 8-weeks post-weaning.


RESULTS
A significant interaction between the maternal and post-weaning diets was observed for the offspring body weight, food-, caloric-intake, plasma lipids, hepatic mRNA expression of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase, aortic contractile and relaxation responses (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The overall metabolic and physiological outcome in the offspring is dependent upon the interaction between the pre- and post-weaning dietary environments.
Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada.
Kanta
K
Chechi
John J
JJ
McGuire
Sukhinder K
SK
Cheema
developmental programming; dietary n-6 PUFA; lipid metabolism; predictive adaptive responses; vascular reactivity