Maternal DHA supplementation during pregnancy and lactation in the rat protects the offspring against high-calorie diet induced hepatic steatosis

Abstract

Maternal supplementation during pregnancy with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is internationally recommended to avoid postpartum maternal depression and improve cognitive and neurological outcomes in the offspring. This study aimed at determining whether this nutritional intervention, in the rat, protects the offspring against the development of obesity and its associated metabolic disorders. Pregnant Wistar rats received by mouth from the beginning of gestation to the end of lactation an extract of fish oil enriched in DHA or saline (SAL) as placebo. At weaning, pups were fed standard chow or a free-choice high-fat high-sugar (fc-HFHS) diet. Compared to animals fed standard chow, rats exposed to the fc-HFHS diet exhibited increased body weight, liver weight, body fat and leptin in serum independently of saline or DHA maternal supplementation. Nevertheless, maternal DHA supplementation prevented both the glucose intolerance and the rise in serum insulin resulting from consumption of the fc-HFHS diet. In addition, animals from the DHA-fc- HFHS diet group showed decreased hepatic triglyceride accumulation compared to SAL-fc-HFHS rats. The beneficial effects on glucose homeostasis declined with age in male rats. Yet, the preventive action against hepatic steatosis was still present in 6-month-old animals of both sexes and was associated with decreased hepatic expression of lipogenic genes. These results show that maternal DHA supplementation during pregnancy “programs” a healthy phenotype in the offspring which is protective against the deleterious effects of an obesogenic diet.