Prenatal inflammation causes obesity and abnormal lipid metabolism via impaired energy expenditure in male offspring

Meng Ni; Qianqian Zhang; Jiuru Zhao; Dongting Yao; Tao Wang; Qianwen Shen; Wei Li; Baihe Li; Xiya Ding; Zhiwei Liu

doi:10.1186/s12986-022-00642-y

Prenatal inflammation causes obesity and abnormal lipid metabolism via impaired energy expenditure in male offspring

Nutr Metab (Lond). 2022 Feb 8;19(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s12986-022-00642-y.

Authors

Meng Ni^{1

2

3}, Qianqian Zhang^{1

2

3}, Jiuru Zhao^{1

2

3}, Dongting Yao^{1

2

3}, Tao Wang^{1

2

3}, Qianwen Shen^{1

2

3}, Wei Li^{1

2

3}, Baihe Li^{1

2

3}, Xiya Ding^{1

2

3}, Zhiwei Liu^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Neonatology, International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 910# Hengshan Road, Shanghai, 20030, China.
² International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital of China Welfare Institution, Shanghai, China.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo Original Disease, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Departments of Neonatology, International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 910# Hengshan Road, Shanghai, 20030, China. liuzhiwei@hotmail.com.
⁵ International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital of China Welfare Institution, Shanghai, China. liuzhiwei@hotmail.com.
⁶ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo Original Disease, Shanghai, China. liuzhiwei@hotmail.com.

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity has becoming a global health issue. Fetus exposed to adversity in the uterine are susceptible to unhealth stimulus in adulthood. Prenatal inflammation is related to poor neonatal outcomes like neurodevelopmental impairments and respiratory complications. Recent studies suggested prenatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure could result in metabolic disorders. Thus, we hypothesized that offspring exposed to prenatal inflammation could develop into metabolic disorder.

Methods: The pregnant C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with 50 μg/kg LPS or saline only once at GD15. The male offspring were weighted weekly until sacrificed. Indirect calorimetry and body composition were both performed at 9 and 18 weeks old. At 20 weeks old, mice were fasted overnight before collecting blood samples and liver for metabolomics analysis and RNA sequencing, respectively. Differentially expressed genes were further verified by RT-qPCR and western blotting.

Results: Prenatal inflammation resulted in obesity with increased fat percentage and decreased energy expenditure in middle-age male offspring. Abnormal lipid accumulation, changes of gene expression profile and upregulation of multi-component mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTOR)/Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ pathway was observed in liver, accompanied with decreased bile acids level, unsaturated fatty acids androgens and prostaglandins in serum. Indirect calorimetry showed increased respiratory exchange rate and deceased spontaneous activity at 9 weeks in LPS group. Impaired energy expenditure was also observed at 18 weeks in LPS group.

Conclusion: Prenatal LPS exposure led to obesity and abnormal lipid metabolism through impaired energy expenditure.

Keywords: Energy expenditure; Lipid metabolism; Obesity; PPAR-γ; Prenatal inflammation.

Abstract

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