Effects of maternal diet-induced obesity on metabolic disorders and age-associated miRNA expression in the liver of male mouse offspring

This study investigated the effect of maternal obesity on aged male offspring liver phenotype and hepatic expression of a programmed miRNA. A mouse model of maternal diet-induced obesity showed that 12-month-old offspring from obese mothers had increased body weight and fat mass, elevated serum LDL and leptin, and increased hepatic lipid content. This was associated with steatosis, increased apoptosis markers, and altered expression of genes involved in hepatic and mitochondrial metabolism. Increased hepatic miR-582 expression was also observed, with the effect more pronounced in older offspring of obese dams. Maternal diet-induced obesity has detrimental effects on offspring body composition and hepatic phenotype, potentially indicative of accelerated aging, associated with age-dependent changes in miR-582 expression.

Laís Vales Mennitti, Asha A. M. Carpenter, Elena Loche, Lucas C. Pantaleão, Denise S. Fernandez-Twinn, Josca M. Schoonejans, Heather L. Blackmore, Thomas J. Ashmore, Luciana Pellegrini Pisani, John A. Tadross, Iain Hargreaves, Susan E. Ozanne