title: Maternal obesity regulates gene expression in the hearts of offspring.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Growing evidence suggests maternal obesity leads to adverse outcomes for offspring, including increased cardiovascular disease (CVD). Alterations in taste preferences of offspring from mothers consuming a high fat diet (HFD) have also been reported. Given recent reports describing cardiac taste receptors, we examined whether the expression of umami and bitter taste receptors is modulated by maternal obesity, and compared this with the physiological challenge of maternal exercise.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed chow (C) or HFD (F) and half of each were provided with a running wheel to enable voluntary exercise (CE or FE), the others remaining sedentary (CS or FS). Two pups from each mother were killed at postnatal day 19. Both lean and obese dams undertook similar amounts of exercise (8.1 ± 2.4 vs 5.1 ± 1.5 km). Maternal obesity increased offspring body weight, adiposity, net and weight-corrected heart ventricle weight, with no effect of exercise. Maternal obesity also increased offspring plasma leptin concentrations, which were normalised by maternal exercise. Cardiac ventricle mRNA expression of bitter taste receptors, β-adrenoceptor (Adrbk1) and angiotensin II receptor type 1a (Agtr1a) were significantly decreased in response to maternal obesity, with maternal exercise decreasing Agtr1a in FE offspring. No changes in umami receptors were observed. FTO mRNA expression was down-regulated by maternal HFD with an up-regulation in offspring of CE mothers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal obesity affected the expression of bitter taste receptors and other genes in the heart ventricle, potentially implicating these genes in the development of CVD associated with maternal obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raipuria
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: G O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bahari
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address: m.morris@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology; D000071516:Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004032:Diet; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000378:metabolism*; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009765:Obesity; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D011247:Pregnancy; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D000098706:Taste Receptors, Type 2
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D000098706:Taste Receptors, Type 2; D000071516:Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO; C529321:FTO protein, rat
keywords: Heart; Hypertrophy; Maternal exercise; Maternal obesity; Nutrient sensing; Programming; Taste receptors