Raghavendhira Harini, Srinivasan Divya, Bhaskaran Ravi Sankar
Department of Endocrinology, Dr ALM Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Taramani Campus, Chennai, 600 113, India.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 27;15(1):18490. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-03019-2.
The worldwide health crisis caused by obesity is not only a concern for individuals, but its impact may extend to future generations. Studies have indicated that parental obesity can influence offspring's metabolic and reproductive health. However, the sex-specific contribution of parental obesity on the metabolic and reproductive health of their offspring is not fully explained. In the present study, we used a Cafeteria diet (Caf) to induce obesity and investigated the possible intergenerational implications of parental obesity on the offspring. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a rodent standard chow or a Caf diet, which included a variety of energy-dense human snacks, for 20 weeks. Offspring (F generation) were generated by breeding female rats from both diet groups with males of control and Caf diet groups. Parents on the Caf diet showed a marked increase in body weight and exhibited adverse changes in their cholesterol/HDL ratio, triglyceride/HDL ratio, and glucose tolerance. Notably, F males were more severely affected than females. Reproductive indices were affected by both maternal and paternal obesity with reduced fertility and increased stillbirth. Furthermore, altered levels of circulatory progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol showed the impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and the disturbed onset of puberty. Both male and female offspring showed hyperglycemia and imbalances in lipid levels, particularly influenced by maternal obesity. The results indicate that obesity may have profound effects, potentially leading to metabolic and reproductive issues in future generations. This study highlights the importance of parental health and diet choices on the well-being of their children.
肥胖引发的全球健康危机不仅关乎个人，其影响可能会波及后代。研究表明，父母肥胖会影响子代的代谢和生殖健康。然而，父母肥胖对子代代谢和生殖健康的性别特异性影响尚未完全阐明。在本研究中，我们采用自助餐式饮食（Caf）诱导肥胖，并研究父母肥胖对后代可能产生的代际影响。将斯普拉格-道利大鼠分为两组，分别喂食啮齿动物标准饲料或Caf饮食（其中包含各种高热量的人类零食），持续20周。通过将两个饮食组的雌性大鼠与对照组和Caf饮食组的雄性大鼠交配产生后代（F代）。食用Caf饮食的父母体重显著增加，其胆固醇/高密度脂蛋白比值、甘油三酯/高密度脂蛋白比值和葡萄糖耐量均出现不良变化。值得注意的是，F代雄性比雌性受影响更严重。生殖指标受到母本和父本肥胖的影响，生育力降低，死产增加。此外，循环中的孕酮、睾酮和雌二醇水平改变表明下丘脑-垂体-性腺轴受损，青春期起始紊乱。雄性和雌性后代均出现高血糖和血脂水平失衡，尤其受母本肥胖影响。结果表明，肥胖可能产生深远影响，并可能导致后代出现代谢和生殖问题。本研究强调了父母健康和饮食选择对子女健康福祉的重要性。
