A mice model of preconceptional maternal weight loss
Résumé
More and more women of childbearing age are overweight or obese. To reduce infertility and Obstetric complications, weight loss is recommended. However, whether this weight loss has positive or deleterious consequences on fetal growth and the long-term health of the children remains to be clarified. Our aim was to develop a mice model of preconceptional maternal weight loss (WL) for further studies within the framework of the DOHaD field, with relevance to human. C57BL/6J female mice received a high-fat diet (HFD) for two months, then a control diet (CD) for Two months. Body weight and food intake were recorded twice a week. At 2 and 4 months, lasting glycemia, insulin and cholesterol were measured and glucose metabolism determined with oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Mice were mated with males under a CD and their weight gain was followed during gestation. Control mothers received a CD (lean control) or HFD (obese control) during preconceptionallgestation/lactation period. Alter offspring weaning, maternal adipose tissues, liver, kidneys and heart were weighed to evaluate maternal body composition and adiposity. Alter 2 months on a HFD, females showed a significant weight gain compared to CD-led mice, were hyperglycemic, glucose intolerant and hypercholesterolemic. Alter two months on a CD, normalization of weight, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism was observed. At the end of lactation, WL females body composition was not distinguishable from lean control. A switch from HFD to a CD induce a massive WL with normalisation of metabolic state and body composition in obese females. This model is therefore suitable to investigate effects of maternal ponderal trajectories or massive preconceptional loss such as that induced by bariactric surgery in human obese patients on offspring development and their long-term health and the underlying molecular mechanisms.