Premium
Maternal Obesity Increases Sweet Taste Response and Sweet Taste Receptor mRNA Expression in Adult Offspring
Author(s) -
Choo Ezen,
Dando Robin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.792.9
Subject(s) - offspring , taste , endocrinology , medicine , lactation , obesity , receptor , weaning , biology , taste receptor , pregnancy , food science , genetics
Maternal body mass index and gestational weight gain predict future over‐weight/obese status in children and adolescents. Based on animal studies, in both rodents and non‐human primates, maternal obesity predicts a preference for palatable foods in the offspring, suggesting an increased preference for foods rich in fat, sugar, and/or salt. In this study, we investigate whether the underlying basis for an increase in palatable food consumption in the offspring of maternally obese mice is due to a change in taste. Mice were fed a control or high fat diet before and during gestation/lactation, with all offspring subsequently maintained on control diet after weaning; thus, the only experience with high fat diet for the offspring was through maternal exposure during early development. Taste response was assessed in offspring after reaching maturity, using brief‐access taste testing. The female offspring of maternal obesity showed an enhanced response to sucrose (F 4,146 =3.986, p=0.004), whereas the males did not (F 4,118 =0.512, p=0.7271). We hypothesize that this enhanced response results from changes in the expression profile of taste buds for sweet taste receptors. We performed qPCR to assay taste receptor expression, and found that both subunits composing the sweet receptor heterodimer, T1R2 and T1R3, to be increased in the female offspring of obese dams compared to lean (T1R2 p=0.035, T1R3 p=0.00053). In male offspring of obese dams, T1R2 (p=0.000091) expression was also increased compared to lean, but not T1R3 (p=0.21). The results indicate that behavioral changes in the adult offspring induced by maternal obesity correlate with increased expression of sweet taste receptors in the taste buds, which may drive the increased preference for palatable foods reported in offspring of maternally obese mice. These findings highlight the importance of maternal health and the long‐term impacts of maternal obesity on offspring health. Support or Funding Information Center for Vertebrate Genomics