Nutritional Programming Effects on Development of Metabolic Disorders in Later Life

Breastfeeding lifespan control of growth, maintenance, and metabolism of small intestinal epithelium

Gastrointestinal epithelial cells respond to milk-born molecules throughout breastfeeding, influencing growth, and development. The rapid renewal of the small intestine depends on the proliferation in the crypt that drives cell fates. We used early weaning model to investigate immediate and late effects of breastfeeding on proliferation, differentiation of jejunal epithelial cells. Wistar rats were either allowed to suckle (S) until 21 postnatal days or submitted to early weaning (EW) at 15 days. By comparing ages (18, 60, and 120 days), we found that EW decreased Ki67 indices and villi height at 18 and 60 days (p < 0.05), and at 120 days they were similar between diets. Proliferative reduction and augmented expression of Cdkn1b (p27 gene) were parallel. In the stem cell niche, EW increased the number and activity (Defa24) of Paneth cells at 18 and 60 days (p < 0.05), and Lgr5 and Ascl2 genes showed inverted responses between ages. Among target cells, EW decreased goblet cell number at 18 and 60 days (p < 0.05) and increased it at 120 days (p < 0.05), whereas enteroendocrine marker genes were differentially altered. EW reduced enterocytes density at 18 days (p < 0.05), and at 120 days this population was decreased (vs. 60 days). Among cell fate crypt-controlling genes, Notch and Atoh1 were the main targets of EW. Metabolically, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance was immediately reduced (18 days), being reverted until 120 days (p < 0.05). Currently, we showed that breastfeeding has a lifespan influence on intestinal mucosa and on its stem cell compartment. We suggest that, although jejunum absorptive function is granted after early weaning, the long lasting changes in gene expression might prime the mucosa with a different sensitivity to gut disorders that still have to be further explored.

The Influence of Parents' Nutritional Education Program on Their Infants' Metabolic Health

Childhood obesity is considered an epidemic in both developing and developed countries. Children obesity plays a vital role in children’s development and has a profound impact on their health in adult life. Although the etiology of obesity is multifactorial, it can be prevented. According to research, feeding practices, developing eating habits, and parenting styles are of primary importance. Despite the widespread access to information on children’s nutrition, parents still make many mistakes preparing their meals. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of parents’ nutritional education on children’s selected anthropometric-metabolic parameters during their first year of life. The study comprised a group of parents of 203 Polish infants. Their parents were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the intervention group received intensive mobile nutritional education for a year, while the control group received no intervention. Blood tests and anthropometric measures were performed on both groups at the beginning of the study and one year later. Our study showed that parental nutritional education influences, among others. the BMI Z-score (the difference between the groups was 1.039) and the TG/HDL ratio (p < 0.001) in children. The final results of our study showed that proper nutritional education could improve children’s nutritional status at the population level.

The Influence of Intensive Nutritional Education on the Iron Status in Infants

Iron is an essential nutrient for a child’s proper development at every growth stage. It is crucial for the production of red blood and muscle cells, DNA replication, and the development of the brain, nervous and immune systems. Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency in children worldwide. Despite widespread access to nutritional information for children, parents continue to make many feeding mistakes. This study aimed to assess whether any nutritional intervention would affect the iron status in children. The parents of 203 children were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the study group received intensive mobile nutritional education for a year, while the control group received no intervention. Blood tests were performed on both groups at the beginning of the study and one year later. The educational intervention resulted in statistically significantly higher levels of RBC (red blood cells; p = 0.020), HGB (haemoglobin; p = 0.039), HCT (haematocrit; p = 0.036), MCV (mean cell volume; p = 0.018) parameters and iron dietary intake (p ≤ 0.001). Even a non-targeted dietary intervention improves the iron status in children. As iron management is insufficient in most children, an iron-targeted nutritional intervention appears necessary.

Animal Foetal Models of Obesity and Diabetes - From Laboratory to Clinical Settings

The prenatal period, during which a fully formed newborn capable of surviving outside its mother's body is built from a single cell, is critical for human development. It is also the time when the foetus is particularly vulnerable to environmental factors, which may modulate the course of its development. Both epidemiological and animal studies have shown that foetal programming of physiological systems may alter the growth and function of organs and lead to pathology in adulthood. Nutrition is a particularly important environmental factor for the pregnant mother as it affects the condition of offspring. Numerous studies have shown that an unbalanced maternal metabolic status (under- or overnutrition) may cause long-lasting physiological and behavioural alterations, resulting in metabolic disorders, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Various diets are used in laboratory settings in order to induce maternal obesity and metabolic disorders, and to alter the offspring development. The most popular models are: high-fat, high-sugar, high-fat-high-sugar, and cafeteria diets. Maternal undernutrition models are also used, which results in metabolic problems in offspring. Similarly to animal data, human studies have shown the influence of mothers' diets on the development of children. There is a strong link between the maternal diet and the birth weight, metabolic state, changes in the cardiovascular and central nervous system of the offspring. The mechanisms linking impaired foetal development and adult diseases remain under discussion. Epigenetic mechanisms are believed to play a major role in prenatal programming. Additionally, sexually dimorphic effects on offspring are observed. Therefore, further research on both sexes is necessary.

When idiopathic male infertility is rooted in maternal malnutrition during the perinatal period in mice

Infertility represents a growing burden worldwide, with one in seven couples presenting difficulties conceiving. Amongst these, 10-15% of the men have idiopathic infertility that does not correlate with any defect in the classical sperm parameters measured. In the present study, we used a mouse model to investigate the effects of maternal undernutrition on fertility in male progeny. Our results indicate that mothers fed on a low protein diet during gestation and lactation produce male offspring with normal sperm morphology, concentration and motility but exhibiting an overall decrease of fertility when they reach adulthood. Particularly, in contrast to control, sperm from these offspring show a remarkable lower capacity to fertilize oocytes when copulation occurs early in the estrus cycle relative to ovulation, due to an altered sperm capacitation. Our data demonstrate for the first time that maternal nutritional stress can have long-term consequences on the reproductive health of male progeny by affecting sperm physiology, especially capacitation, with no observable impact on spermatogenesis and classical quantitative and qualitative sperm parameters. Moreover, our experimental model could be of major interest to study, explain, and ultimately treat certain categories of infertilities.

Fighting Fat With Fat: n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Adipose Deposition in Broiler Chickens

Modern broiler chickens are incredibly efficient, but they accumulate more adipose tissue than is physiologically necessary due to inadvertent consequences of selection for rapid growth. Accumulation of excess adipose tissue wastes feed in birds raised for market, and it compromises well-being in broiler-breeders. Studies driven by the obesity epidemic in humans demonstrate that the fatty acid profile of the diet influences adipose tissue growth and metabolism in ways that can be manipulated to reduce fat accretion. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) can inhibit adipocyte differentiation, induce fatty acid oxidation, and enhance energy expenditure, all of which can counteract the accretion of excess adipose tissue. This mini-review summarizes efforts to counteract the tendency for fat accretion in broilers by enriching the diet in n-3 PUFA.

Baby-Led Weaning: What Role Does It Play in Obesity Risk during the First Years? A Systematic Review

Childhood is a window of opportunity for the prevention of the obesity pandemic. Since “the first 1000 days of life” is a period in which healthy eating habits must be acquired, it should be the target for preventive strategies. Baby-led weaning (BLW) is an emergent way of weaning that could influence children’s health. The nutrition committees of the main pediatric societies affirm there is not enough evidence to support which is the best method of weaning. The aim was to determinate the influence of BLW on the infant’s weight gain compared to the traditional spoon-feeding, and to assess if it could decrease the risk of obesity in children. A systematic review was conducted, following the PRISMA method. Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched. Out of 747 articles, eight studies (2875 total infants) were included (two randomized control trials, 6 observational studies). Results were indecisive, while some studies seem to demonstrate lower weight gain in infants that apply BLW, others show inconclusive results. The risk of bias in all included studies was moderate or high. In conclusion, more clinical trials and prospective studies should be done prior to providing a general recommendation about the best method of weaning to reduce the risk of obesity.

Type 2 Diabetes in Youth: the Role of Early Life Exposures

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review examines the impact of early life exposures on glucose metabolism in the offspring and explores potential metabolic mechanisms leading to type 2 diabetes in childhood.

RECENT FINDINGS

One in five adolescents is diagnosed with prediabetes. Recent studies have elucidated the impact of early exposures such as maternal diabetes, but also hyperglycemia below the threshold of gestational diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and paternal obesity on the future metabolic health of the offspring. Mechanisms affecting the developmental programing of offspring toward type 2 diabetes include epigenetic modifications, alterations in stem cell differentiation, metabolome and microbiome variation, immune dysregulation, and neonatal nutrition. The risk of type 2 diabetes in offspring is increased not only by diabetes exposure in utero but also by exposure to a heterogeneous milieu of factors that accompany maternal obesity that provoke a vicious cycle of metabolic disease. The key period for intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes is within the first 1000 days of life.

Developmental programming of insulin resistance: are androgens the culprits?

Insulin resistance is a common feature of many metabolic disorders. The dramatic rise in the incidence of insulin resistance over the past decade has enhanced focus on its developmental origins. Since various developmental insults ranging from maternal disease, stress, over/undernutrition, and exposure to environmental chemicals can all program the development of insulin resistance, common mechanisms may be involved. This review discusses the possibility that increases in maternal androgens associated with these various insults are key mediators in programming insulin resistance. Additionally, the intermediaries through which androgens misprogram tissue insulin sensitivity, such as changes in inflammatory, oxidative, and lipotoxic states, epigenetic, gut microbiome and insulin, as well as data gaps to be filled are also discussed.

Early weaning induces short- and long-term effects on pancreatic islets in Wistar rats of both sexes

KEY POINTS

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age as an important strategy to reduce child morbidity and mortality. Studies have associated early weaning with the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. In our model, we demonstrated that early weaning leads to increased insulin secretion in adolescent males and reduced insulin secretion in adult offspring. Early weaned males exhibit insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Early weaning did not change insulin signalling in the muscle of female offspring. Taking into account that insulin resistance is one of the primary factors for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, this work demonstrates the importance of breastfeeding in the fight against this disease.

ABSTRACT

Early weaning (EW) leads to short- and long-term obesity and diabetes. This phenotype is also observed in experimental models, in which early-weaned males exhibit abnormal insulinaemia in adulthood. However, studies regarding the effect of EW on pancreatic islets are rare. We investigated the mechanisms by which glycaemic homeostasis is altered in EW models through evaluations of insulin secretion and its signalling pathway in offspring. Lactating Wistar rats and their pups were divided into the following groups: non-pharmacological EW (NPEW): mothers were wrapped with an adhesive bandage on the last 3 days of lactation; pharmacological EW (PEW): mothers received bromocriptine to inhibit prolactin (1 mg/kg body mass/day) on the last 3 days of lactation; and control (C): pups underwent standard weaning at PN21. Offspring of both sexes were euthanized at PN45 and PN180. At PN45, EW males showed higher insulin secretion (vs. C). At PN170, PEW males exhibited hyperglycaemia in an oral glucose tolerance test (vs. C and NPEW). At PN180, EW male offspring were heavier; however, both sexes showed higher visceral fat. Insulin secretion was lower in EW offspring of both sexes. Males from both EW groups had lower glucokinase in islets, but unexpectedly, PEW males showed higher GLUT2, than did C. EW males exhibited lower insulin signalling in muscle. EW females exhibited no changes in these parameters compared with C. We demonstrated distinct alterations in the insulin secretion of EW rats at different ages. Despite the sex dimorphism in insulin secretion in adolescence, both sexes showed impaired insulin secretion in adulthood due to EW.

Metabolic Biomarkers in Aging and Anti-Aging Research

Although human life expectancy has increased significantly over the last two centuries, this has not been paralleled by a similar rise in healthy life expectancy. Thus, an important goal of anti-aging research has been to reduce the impact of age-associated diseases as a way of extending the human healthspan. This review will explore some of the potential avenues which have emerged from this research as the most promising strategies and drug targets for therapeutic interventions to promote healthy aging.

Macrophage Populations in Visceral Adipose Tissue from Pregnant Women: Potential Role of Obesity in Maternal Inflammation

Obesity is associated with inflammatory changes and accumulation and phenotype polarization of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs). Obese pregnant women have alterations in adipose tissue composition, but a detailed description of macrophage population is not available. In this study, we characterized macrophage populations in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) from pregnant women with normal, overweight, and obese pregestational weight. Immunophenotyping of macrophages from VAT biopsies was performed by flow cytometry using CD45 and CD14 as markers of hematopoietic and monocyte linage, respectively, while HLA-DR, CD11c, CD163, and CD206 were used as pro- and anti-inflammatory markers. Adipocyte number and size were evaluated by light microscopy. The results show that pregnant women that were overweight and obese during the pregestational period had adipocyte hypertrophy. Two different macrophage populations in VAT were identified: recruited macrophages (CD45⁺CD14⁺), and a novel population lacking CD45, which was considered to be a resident macrophages subset (CD45⁻CD14⁺). The number of resident HLA⁻DR^low/− macrophages showed a negative correlation with body mass index (BMI). Both resident and recruited macrophages from obese women expressed higher CD206 levels. CD11c expression was higher in resident HLA-DR⁺ macrophages from obese women. A strong correlation between CD206 and CD11c markers and BMI was observed. Our findings show that being overweight and obese in the pregestational period is associated with adipocyte hypertrophy and specific ATMs populations in VAT.