Departments of Molecular Biology and Nutrition Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel.
Laboratory of Teratology, Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 13;21(6):1981. doi: 10.3390/ijms21061981.
Exposure to certain environmental factors during the early stages of development was found to affect health in adulthood. Among other environmental factors, oxidative stress has been suggested to be involved in fetal programming, leading to elevated risk for metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes; however, the possibility that antioxidant consumption during early life may affect the development of diabetes has scarcely been studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of -acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) given during pregnancy and lactation on the susceptibility of offspring to develop glucose intolerance at adulthood. C57bl6/J mice were given NAC during pregnancy and lactation. High fat diet (HFD) was given to offspring at an age of 6 weeks for an additional 9 weeks, till the end of the study. Isolated islets of NAC-treated offspring (6 weeks old, before HFD feeding) had an increased efficacy of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and a higher resistance to oxidative damage. Following HFD feeding, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity of NAC-treated offspring were improved. In addition, islet diameter was lower in male offspring of NAC-treated mice compared to their HFD-fed littermates. NAC consumption during early life improves glucose tolerance in adulthood in mice.
在发育早期接触某些环境因素被发现会影响成年后的健康。在其他环境因素中，氧化应激被认为与胎儿编程有关，导致代谢紊乱的风险增加，包括 2 型糖尿病；然而，在生命早期摄入抗氧化剂是否会影响糖尿病的发展几乎没有被研究过。本研究旨在探讨在妊娠和哺乳期给予 N-乙酰-L-半胱氨酸 (NAC) 对后代成年后患葡萄糖不耐受易感性的影响。C57bl6/J 小鼠在妊娠和哺乳期给予 NAC。6 周龄时给予高脂肪饮食 (HFD) ，持续 9 周，直至研究结束。NAC 处理的后代 (6 周龄，在 HFD 喂养前) 的胰岛对葡萄糖刺激的胰岛素分泌的作用增强，对氧化损伤的抵抗力增强。在 HFD 喂养后，NAC 处理的后代的葡萄糖耐量和胰岛素敏感性得到改善。此外，与 HFD 喂养的同窝仔相比，NAC 处理的雄性后代的胰岛直径较小。生命早期 NAC 的摄入可改善成年小鼠的葡萄糖耐量。
