title: Exercise during pregnancy protects adult mouse offspring from diet-induced obesity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physical exercise induces positive alterations in gene expression involved in the metabolism of obesity. Maternal exercise provokes adaptations soon after birth in the offspring. Here, we investigated whether adult mouse offspring of swim-trained mothers is protected against the development of the deleterious effects of high fat diet (HFD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study comprises two parts. First, female C57BL/6 mice were divided into one sedentary and one swim-trained group (before and during pregnancy, n = 18). In the second part, adult offspring (n = 12) of trained and sedentary mothers was challenged to HFD for 16 weeks. Notably, most of the analysis was done in male offspring.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results demonstrate that maternal exercise has several beneficial effects on the mouse offspring and protects them from the deleterious effects of HFD in the adult. Specifically, swimming during pregnancy leads to lower birth weight in offspring through 2 months of age. When subjected to HFD for 4 month in the adulthood, our study presents novel data on the male offspring's metabolism of trained mothers. The offspring gained less weight, which was accompanied by less body fat, and they used more calories during daytime compared with offspring of sedentary mothers. Furthermore, we observed increased adiponectin expression in skeletal muscle, which was accompanied by decreased leptin levels and increased insulin sensitivity. Decreased interleukin-6 expression and increased peptide PYY levels were observed in sera of adult offspring of mothers that swam during pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results point to the conclusion that maternal exercise is beneficial to protect the offspring from developing obesity, which could be important for succeeding generations as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 9 andar, 04039-032 São Paulo, SP Brazil ; Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Federal University of São Paulo, 04023-900 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wasinski
authors.affiliation: School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, 03828-000 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Reury Frank Pereira
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Bacurau
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 9 andar, 04039-032 São Paulo, SP Brazil ; Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Federal University of São Paulo, 04023-900 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriel Rufino
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Estrela
authors.affiliation: Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klempin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 9 andar, 04039-032 São Paulo, SP Brazil ; Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Federal University of São Paulo, 04023-900 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Aline Midori
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Arakaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 9 andar, 04039-032 São Paulo, SP Brazil ; Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Federal University of São Paulo, 04023-900 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Rogerio Oliveira
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 9 andar, 04039-032 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Francisco Pazello
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Mafra
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas Francisco Ribeiro
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: do Nascimento
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Laboratory of Transplantation Immunobiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Meire Ioshie
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Hiyane
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Lício Augusto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Velloso
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Laboratory of Transplantation Immunobiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Niels Olsen Saraiva
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Câmara
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 9 andar, 04039-032 São Paulo, SP Brazil.
authors.forename: Ronaldo Carvalho
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Araujo
keywords: Exercise during pregnancy; Obesity in offspring; Physical exercise