Abstract
Background: Maternal high-fat diet (HFD) during pregnancy and lactation is linked to metabolic disorders in offspring, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Epigenetic mechanisms may mediate these effects, but specific pathways remain unclear.Methods: We utilized a rat model where female Sprague-Dawley dams were fed either a control diet (10% fat) or a high-fat diet (45% fat) during gestation and lactation. Male offspring were sacrificed at postnatal day 21. Hepatic lipid content, gene expression (RT-qPCR), and histone modifications (ChIP-qPCR) were analyzed. Statistical comparisons used t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests, with false discovery rate correction.Results: Offspring from HFD dams exhibited increased hepatic triglycerides (mean 45.2 vs. 28.7 mg/g, pConclusions: Maternal HFD reprograms hepatic lipid metabolism in offspring via histone modifications that activate lipogenic gene expression. These findings highlight potential epigenetic targets for early intervention in metabolic disease.
Keywords
maternal high-fat diet, epigenetic reprogramming, hepatic lipid metabolism, histone modifications, offspring, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, developmental programming, lipogenesis