Maternal intake of alpha-lipoic acid prevents development of symptoms associated with a fructose-rich diet in the male offspring in Wistar rats

María Belén Rabaglino*, María José Moreira-Espinoza, Clarisa Lagares, Maria Isabel Garay, Patricia Quiroga, María Eugenia Pasqualini, Flavio Francini, Dante Beltramo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The hypothesis was that maternal intake of the antioxidant alpha-lipoid acid (ALA), during the developmental period of the hypothalamic orexigenic neurons, causes a permanent beneficial effect in offspring metabolism. Pregnant Wistar rats were fed with standard diet (food) + ALA (0.4% wt/wt) from day 14 of gestation to day 20 of lactation (n = 4) or food (n = 4). At 3 months of age, male offspring born from ALA-fed rats or controls (CT) were randomly assigned to be fed with food + 10% fructose solution in drinking water (F) or food + tap water (C), resulting in four groups: ALAF, ALAC, CTF, and CTC (n = 5/group). Food intake and body weight (BW) were measured twice a week for 31 days. Metabolites' levels in blood, mRNA expressions of Npy, Agrp (hypothalamus), Fasn, Srebf1, Ppard, and Pparg (liver), and the antioxidant capacity of the liver were determined. Results significance was set at p < 0.05. Average BW gain, daily BW gain, and intraabdominal fat tissue at necropsy were higher in CTF group followed by CTC, ALAF, and ALAC groups. There were no differences between groups in Kcal intake per day. mRNA expressions of hypothalamic and hepatic genes and plasmatic levels of glucose and triglycerides were higher in CTF group followed by ALAF, CTC, and ALAC groups. Fructose intake affected the oxidative capacity of the liver, but this effect was not observed in the ALAF group. In conclusion, maternal ALA intake protected the adult offspring to develop metabolic symptoms associated with high fructose in the drinking water.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)758-767
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Volume12
Issue number5
Early online date11 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Animals
  • Diet/methods
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Fructose/adverse effects
  • Maternal Exposure
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/metabolism
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar/metabolism
  • Thioctic Acid/pharmacology

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