title: Maternal high-fat diet intensifies the metabolic response to stress in male rat offspring.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The mother's consumption of high-fat food can affect glucose metabolism and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsiveness in the offspring and potentially affect the metabolic responses to stress as well. This study examines the effect of maternal high-fat diet on the expression of pancreatic glucose transporter 2 and the secretion of insulin in response to stress in offspring.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female rats were randomly divided into normal and high-fat diet groups and were fed in accordance with their given diets from pre-pregnancy to the end of lactation. The offspring were divided into control (NC and HFC) and stress (NS and HFS) groups based on their mothers' diet and exposure to stress in adulthood. After the two-week stress induction period was over, an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT) was performed and plasma glucose and insulin levels were assessed. The pancreas was then removed for measuring insulin secretion from the isolated islets as well as glucose transporter 2 mRNA expression and protein levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to the results obtained, plasma corticosterone concentrations increased significantly on days 1 and 14 of the stress induction period and were lower on the last day compared to on the first day. In both the NS and HFS groups, stress reduced plasma insulin concentration in the IPGTT without changing the plasma glucose concentration, suggesting an increased insulin sensitivity in the NS and HFS groups, although more markedly in the latter. Stress reduced insulin secretion (at high glucose concentrations) and increased glucose transporter 2 mRNA and protein expression, especially in the HFS group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mothers' high-fat diet appears to intensify the stress response by changing the programming of the neuroendocrine system in the offspring.
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 19615-1178 Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karbaschi
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 19615-1178 Tehran, Iran.|Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 19615-1178 Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Homeira
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zardooz
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khodagholi
authors.affiliation: NeuroBiology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dargahi
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 19615-1178 Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salimi
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: FatemehSadat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rashidi
keywords: GLUT2 expression; Insulin secretion; Maternal high-fat diet; Stress