Maternal obesity predisposes offspring to obesity in adulthood. Since the perinatal period is a critical window for adipose organogenesis, we evaluated if maternal obesity affects the perinatal offspring adipogenesis. Female mice were fed a standard diet (eutrophic dam, ED) or a high-fat diet supplemented with condensed milk (obese dam, OD) for 6 weeks before mating, and the diets were maintained until the end of the protocol. Inguinal adipose tissue of offspring at gestational day 16.5 (E16.5), postnatal day 0 (P0), and P2 was collected to analyze morphological and molecular features. In OD offspring, the number of preadipocytes increased at E16.5 and P0 compared to ED offspring. The cell cycle-related elements Ccnd1 and Ki67 were also upregulated in these groups. In parallel, lipid accumulation started at E16.5 in OD offspring, while ED offspring preadipocytes only accumulated lipids after P0. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) levels and activity were decreased in OD offspring due to impaired nuclear migration. Increased Hdac1 expression, which negatively regulates PPAR-responsive elements in the genome, was also detected. At P2, OD adipocytes presented abnormal features, including a clustered distribution and decreased expression of PPARγ target genes and Adbr3 and Slc2a4, which are highly expressed in mature functional adipocytes. The abnormal adipose tissue is one of the major factors promoting metabolic abnormalities in adulthood. This study demonstrates for the first time the morphological and molecular alterations induced by maternal obesity in vivo in the perinatal adipogenesis in murine inguinal adipose tissue.
Keywords: adipogenesis; glucose intolerance; insulin resistance; lipid accumulation; maternal obesity; metabolism; ontogenesis.