Effects of dietary obesity in fathers on gene expression of fat in the female offspring (mRNA data)

The global prevalence of obesity is increasing across age and gender. The rising burden of obesity in young people contributes to the early emergence of type 2 diabetes. Having one parent obese is an independent risk factor for childhood obesity. While the detrimental impact of diet-induced maternal obesity on offspring is well established, the extent of the contribution of obese fathers is unclear, as is the role of non-genetic factors in the casual pathway. Here we show that paternal high fat diet exposure programmed -cell dysfunction in their F1 female offspring. Chronic high fat diet consumption in Sprague Dawley fathers led to increased body weight, adiposity, impaired glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Relative to controls, their female offspring had lower body weight at day-1, increased pubertal growth rate, impaired insulin secretion and glucose tolerance, in the absence of obesity or increased adiposity. Paternal high fat diet altered the expression of 211 pancreatic islet genes in adult female offspring (P < 0.001); genes belonged to 8 functional clusters, including calcium ion binding, primary metabolic processes and ATP binding, and organ/system development. Broader KEGG pathway analysis of 2014 genes differentially expressed at the P < 0.01 level further demonstrated involvement of insulin and calcium signaling, and MAPK pathways. This is the first reported study in mammals describing non-genetic, intergenerational transmission of metabolic sequelae of high fat diet from father to offspring. These findings support a role of fathers in metabolic programming of offspring and form a framework for further studies.

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Ng SF, Lin RC, Maloney CA, Youngson NA, Owens JA, Morris MJ