Perinatal high-fat diet increases hippocampal vulnerability to the adverse effects of subsequent high-fat feeding.

Amandine L. Lépinay, Thomas Larrieu, Corinne Joffre, Niyazi Acar, Iciar Gárate, Nathalie Castanon, Guillaume Ferreira, Bénédicte Langelier, Philippe Guesnet, Lionel Brétillon, Patricia Parnet, Sophie Layé, Muriel Darnaudéry
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015-03-01; 53: 82-93
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.12.008

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1. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015 Mar;53:82-93. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.12.008.
Epub 2014 Dec 15.

Perinatal high-fat diet increases hippocampal vulnerability to the adverse
effects of subsequent high-fat feeding.

Lépinay AL(1), Larrieu T(1), Joffre C(1), Acar N(2), Gárate I(1), Castanon N(1),
Ferreira G(1), Langelier B(3), Guesnet P(4), Brétillon L(2), Parnet P(5), Layé
S(1), Darnaudéry M(6).

Author information:
(1)INRA, Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286, 33000 Bordeaux, France;
Université de Bordeaux, Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286, 33000
Bordeaux, France.
(2)CNRS, UMR 6265 Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation, 21000 Dijon,
France; INRA, UMR 1324 Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation, 21000
Dijon, France; Université de Bourgogne, UMR Centre des Sciences du Goût et de
l’Alimentation, 21000 Dijon, France.
(3)INRA, Nutrition et Régulation Lipidique des Fonctions Cérébrales, UR909, 78352
Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, France.
(4)PG Consulting, 13 Villa Bellevue, 91440 Bures sur Yvette, France.
(5)INRA, UMR 1280, Physiologie des Adaptations Nutritionnelles, 44093 Nantes,
France; Université de Nantes, UMR 1280, Physiologie des Adaptations
Nutritionnelles, 44093 Nantes, France.
(6)INRA, Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286, 33000 Bordeaux, France;
Université de Bordeaux, Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286, 33000
Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: .

Epidemiological observations report an increase in fat consumption associated
with low intake of n-3 relative to n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in
women of childbearing age. However, the impact of these maternal feeding habits
on cognitive function in the offspring is unknown. This study aims to investigate
the impact of early exposure to a high-fat diet (HFD) with an unbalanced n-6/n-3
PUFAs ratio on hippocampal function in adult rats. Furthermore, we explored the
effects of perinatal HFD combined with exposure to HFD after weaning. Dams were
fed a control diet (C, 12% of energy from lipids, n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio: 5) or HFD
(HF, 39% of energy from lipids, n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio: 39) throughout gestation and
lactation. At weaning, offspring were placed either on control (C-C, HF-C) or
high-fat (HF-HF) diets. In adulthood, hippocampus-dependent memory was assessed
using the water-maze task and potential hippocampal alterations were determined
by studying PUFA levels, gene expression, neurogenesis and astrocyte morphology.
Perinatal HFD induced long-lasting metabolic alterations and some changes in gene
expression in the hippocampus, but had no effect on memory. In contrast, spatial
memory was impaired in animals exposed to HFD during the perinatal period and
maintained on this diet. HF-HF rats also exhibited low n-3 and high n-6 PUFA
levels, decreased neurogenesis and downregulated expression of several
plasticity-related genes in the hippocampus. To determine the contribution of the
perinatal diet to the memory deficits reported in HF-HF animals, an additional
experiment was conducted in which rats were only exposed to HFD starting at
weaning (C-HF). Interestingly, memory performance in this group was similar to
controls. Overall, our results suggest that perinatal exposure to HFD with an
unbalanced n-6/n-3 ratio sensitizes the offspring to the adverse effects of
subsequent high-fat intake on hippocampal function.

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.12.008
PMID: 25614359 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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