The Interplay between Maternal and Post-Weaning High-Fat Diet and Gut Microbiota in the Developmental Programming of Hypertension

• Published in: Nutrients 2019-08, Vol.11 (9), p.1982
• Main Authors: Hsu, Chien-Ning, Hou, Chih-Yao, Lee, Chien-Te, Chan, Julie Y H, Tain, You-Lin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Age; Age Factors; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases - metabolism; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Bacteria; Bacteria - growth & development; Bacteria - metabolism; Blood Pressure; Cardiovascular disease; Chromatography; Diet; Diet, High-Fat; Disease Models, Animal; Dysbacteriosis; Fatty acids; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gene expression; Genera; High fat diet; Hospitals; Hypertension; Hypertension - etiology; Hypertension - metabolism; Hypertension - microbiology; Hypertension - physiopathology; Intestinal microflora; Intestines - microbiology; Kidney Cortex - metabolism; Kinases; Laboratory animals; Lactic acid; Male; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Metabolites; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Nutrition research; Obesity; Offspring; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha - metabolism; Pharmacy; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Propionic acid; Proteins; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled - metabolism; Receptors, Odorant - metabolism; Rodents; rRNA 16S; Taxonomy; Weaning; Weight Gain
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu11091982

Excessive intake of saturated fat has been linked to hypertension. Gut microbiota and their metabolites, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), are known to be involved in the development of hypertension. We examined whether maternal and post-weaning high-fat (HF) diet-induced hypertension in adult male offspring is related to alterations of gut microbiota, mediation of SCFAs and their receptors, and downregulation of nutrient-sensing signals. Female Sprague-Dawley rats received either a normal diet (ND) or HF diet (D12331, Research Diets) during pregnancy and lactation. Male offspring were put on either the ND or HF diet from weaning to 16 weeks of age, and designated to four groups (maternal diet/post-weaning diet; = 8/group): ND/ND, HF/ND, ND/HF, and HF/HF. Rats were sacrificed at 16 weeks of age. Combined HF/HF diets induced elevated blood pressure (BP) and increased body weight and kidney damage in male adult offspring. The rise in BP is related to a downregulated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) pathway. Additionally, HF/HF diets decreased fecal concentrations of propionate and butyrate and decreased G protein-coupled receptor 41 (GPR41), but increased olfactory receptor 78 (Oflr78) expression. Maternal HF diet has differential programming effects on the offspring's microbiota at 3 and 16 weeks of age. Combined HF/HF diet induced BP elevation was associated with an increased to ratio, increased abundance of genus and phylum , and reduced abundance in genus . Maternal gut microbiota-targeted dietary interventions might be reprogramming strategies to protect against programmed hypertension in children and their mothers on consumption of a fat-rich diet.