Maternal high fat diet programs stress-induced behavioral disorder in adult offspring

Intergenerational transfer of binge eating-like behavior: The additive impact of juvenile stress

Binge eating (BE) is consuming large amounts of food in a short time, while experiencing loss of control over eating behavior. BE can be hereditary, and juvenile stress (JS) may contribute to its onset. We examined the impact of JS on BE-like behavior, in an animal model of intergenerational BE. Twenty-four female Wistar rats received 2-h access to palatable food (PF) three or five times a week (3 TW or 5 TW) for 4 weeks, followed by the open field test (OFT). At postnatal day (PND)27-29, female offspring either underwent JS (O-JSC) or not (O-CC). At PND51-53, offspring's stress levels were assessed behaviorally. At PND70-85, offspring received 2-h access to PF three times a week to assess their BE-like tendency. Hair samples were collected afterwards. Compared to 5 TW, 3 TW had a greater binge size. In the elevated plus maze and dark\light box, in O-JSC, offspring of 3 TW (O-3TW) spent less time in the open arms and lit area compared to O-5TW. O-3TW consumed more PF than O-5TW. O-JSC consumed more than O-CC. O-3TW-JSC had higher hair CORT levels than O-3TW-CC and O-5TW-JSC. This study highlights the interplay between maternal and offspring experiences, allowing for the study of underlying mechanisms.

Maternal obesity induces sex-specific changes in the endocannabinoid system of the hypothalamus and dorsal hippocampus of offspring associated with anxiety-like behavior in adolescent female rats

Maternal obesity during perinatal period increases the risk of metabolic and behavioral deleterious outcomes in the offspring, since it is critical for brain development, maturation, and reorganization. These processes are highly modulated by the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which comprises the main lipid ligands anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 (CB1R and CB2R), and several metabolizing enzymes. The ECS is overactivated in obesity and it contributes to the physiological activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, promoting stress relief. We have previously demonstrated that maternal high-fat diet during gestation and lactation programmed the food preference for fat in adolescent male offspring and adult male and female offspring. In the present study, we hypothesized that maternal diet-induced obesity would induce sex-specific changes of the ECS in the hypothalamus and dorsal hippocampus of rat offspring associated with dysregulation of the HPA axis and stress-related behavior in adolescence. Rat dams were fed a control (C) or an obesogenic high-fat high-sugar diet (OD) for nine weeks prior to mating and throughout gestation and lactation. Maternal obesity differentially altered the CB1R in the hypothalamus of neonate offspring, with significant increase in male but not in female pups, associated with decreased CB2R prior to obesity development. In adolescence, maternal obesity induced anxiety-like behavior only in adolescent females which was associated with increased content of CB1R in the dorsal hippocampus. Our findings suggest that the early origins of anxiety disorders induced by maternal exposome is associated with dysregulation of the brain ECS, with females being more susceptible.

Influence of maternal high-fat diet on offspring's locomotor activity during anxiety-related behavioral tests: A systematic review

The aim of this review was to summarize and discuss the impact of a maternal high-fat diet on the locomotor activity of offspring during anxiety-related behavioral tests. A search was performed in the LILACS, Web of Science, SCOPUS and PUMBED databases, using the following inclusion criteria: studies in which rodent dams were submitted to a high-fat diet during gestation and/or lactation and in which the locomotor activity parameters of offspring were evaluated during an anxiety-related test. Twenty-three articles met these criteria and were included. Most studies, 14 out of 23, found that a maternal high-fat diet did not alter offspring locomotor activity. Six articles found that a maternal high-fat diet increased the locomotor activity of offspring, while three found decreased locomotion. This effect may be associated with the initial response to the test and the fact that it was the first day of exposure to the apparatus.

Comparison of maternal versus postweaning ingestion of a high fat, high sucrose diet on depression-related behavior, novelty reactivity, and corticosterone levels in young, adult rat offspring

Consumption of a Western-type diet, high in fat and sugar, by mothers as well as maternal weight gain and obesity during gestation and lactation may impact offspring risk for mood and cognitive disorders. The objective of this study was to determine if ingestion of a high fat, high sucrose (HFS) diet by rat dams during gestation and lactation or by their pups after weaning impacted these behaviors and stress responsivity in young, adult offspring. To accomplish this, dams consumed either a 45% fat/high sucrose (HFS) diet or the AIN93G control diet during gestation and lactation. At weaning, pups from dams that consumed the HFS diet were weaned to the control diet. Pups from dams assigned to the control diet were weaned to either the control or HFS diet. Pup behavioral testing began at 10 weeks of age. Pups whose dams consumed the HFS diet during gestation and lactation exhibited increased depression-related behavior and baseline serum corticosterone levels, but no difference in peak levels in response to stress. Male pups of these dams displayed increased working memory during acquisition of the holeboard task and tended to exhibit more anxiety-related behavior in the elevated O-maze test. Regardless of when consumed, the HFS diet increased novelty reactivity in the open field test. These data indicate that diet but not maternal weight gain during gestation impacts offspring behavior and elevates stress hormone levels. Also, regardless of when consumed, the HFS diet increases novelty reactivity, a risk factor for depression and addiction.

The Influence of Maternal Metabolic State and Nutrition on Offspring Neurobehavioral Development: A Focus on Preclinical Models

The prevalence of both obesity and neurodevelopmental disorders has increased substantially over the last several decades. Early environmental factors, including maternal nutrition and metabolic state during gestation, influence offspring neurodevelopment. Both human and preclinical models demonstrate a link between poor maternal nutrition, altered metabolic state, and risk of behavioral abnormalities in offspring. This review aims to highlight evidence from the current literature connecting maternal nutrition and the associated metabolic changes with neural and behavioral outcomes in the offspring, as well as identify possible mechanisms underlying these neurodevelopmental outcomes. Owing to the highly correlated nature of poor nutrition and obesity in humans, preclinical animal models are important in distinguishing the unique effects of maternal nutrition and metabolic state on offspring brain development. We use a translational lens to highlight results from preclinical animal models of maternal obesogenic diet related to alterations in behavioral and neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. Specifically, we aim to highlight results that resemble behavioral phenotypes described in the diagnostic criteria of neurodevelopmental conditions in humans. Finally, we examine the proinflammatory nature of maternal obesity and consumption of a high-fat diet as a mechanism for neurodevelopmental alterations that may alter offspring behavior later in life. It is important that future studies examine potential therapeutic interventions and prevention strategies to interrupt the transgenerational transmission of the disease. Given the tremendous risk to the next generation, changes need to be made to ensure that all pregnant people have access to nutritious food and are informed about the optimal diet for their developing child.

Behavioral and Cognitive Consequences of Obesity in Parents and Offspring in Female and Male Rats: Implications of Neuroinflammation and Neuromodulation

Obesity is a rapidly growing public health concern that can create a family-wise burden. This study was aimed to investigate behavioral, cognitive, neuroinflammatory, and neuromodulatory consequences of the diet and parental obesity. Female and male Wistar albino rats were fed on either an obesogenic or standard diet for 12 weeks, beginning with weaning. Thereafter, the animals were matched and allowed to mate. Pups born to obese or normal parents received either the diet or standard chow to the same age. The obesogenic diet and/or parental obesity increased the locomotor activity in both females and males. The diet exhibited anxiolytic-like and antidepressant-like properties, and impaired short-term object memory as well as spatial memory. Interestingly, the obesogenic diet resulted in neuroinflammation only in naïve animals, but not in the ones with parental obesity. BDNF, SIRT1, and p53 expressions were decreased, whereas RelN expression was increased in the brain with the diet, regardless of parental obesity. Multi-factor analyses demonstrated that the obesogenic diet is the prominent influencer of cognitive, neuroinflammatory, and neuromodulatory results while parental obesity has an effect on spatial memory, neuroinflammation, and hippocampal RelN and p53 expressions. Here, we provided supporting evidence for detrimental cognitive and neuroinflammatory consequences of early life consumption of the obesogenic diet which accompanies alterations in neuromodulatory factors. Surprisingly, the diet was found beneficial against anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors, and additionally, parental obesity was demonstrated to impair some aspects of cognitive performance which appears unrelated to neuroinflammation.

Neurobiological approaches of high-fat diet intake in early development and their impact on mood disorders in adulthood: A systematic review

The early stage of development is a vulnerable period for progeny neurodevelopment, altering cytogenetic and correct cerebral functionality. The exposure High-Fat Diet (HFD) is a factor that impacts the future mental health of individuals. This review analyzes possible mechanisms involved in the development of mood disorders in adulthood because of maternal HFD intake during gestation and lactation, considering previously reported findings in the last five years, both in humans and animal models. Maternal HFD could induce alterations in mood regulation, reported as increased stress response, anxiety-like behavior, and depressive-like behavior. These changes were mostly related to HPA axis dysregulations and neuroinflammatory responses. In conclusion, there could be a relationship between HFD consumption during the early stages of life and the development of psychopathologies during adulthood. These findings provide guidelines for the understanding of possible mechanisms involved in mood disorders, however, there is still a need for more human clinical studies that provide evidence to improve the understanding of maternal nutrition and future mental health outcomes in the offspring.

Maternal exposure to high-fat diet modifies anxiety-like/depression-like behaviors and compounds of Serotonergic System in offspring: A preclinical systematic review

Maternal nutrition affects offspring physiology and behavior including susceptibility to mental health-related states. Perinatal high-fat diet (HFD) consumption has been associated with lower levels of serotonin as well as the development of anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors in offspring. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of maternal HFD during pregnancy and/or lactation on these behaviors and on some aspects of the serotonergic system. Criteria for eligibility included studies of offspring of rodents and non-human primates exposed to HFD at least during pregnancy and/or lactation, offspring that showed outcomes related to anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors and to the serotonergic system. The searches were realized in the LILACS, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases. The systematic review protocol was registered on the CAMARADES website. The internal validity was assessed by the SYRCLE risk of bias tool. The Kappa index was used for analyzing agreement among the reviewers. In addition, the PRISMA statement was used to report this systematic review. Sixteen articles were included in this review. Most of which studied HFD prior to mating and during pregnancy and lactation. All studies analyzed outcomes related to emotional behavior; three analyzed outcomes related to serotonin system compounds. Maternal consumption of HFD was found to be associated with an inconsistent pattern of the expression of TPH2 as well as reduced the immunoreactivity of 5-HT in the prefrontal cortex and increased 5-HT1A receptor expression in the dorsal raphe of offspring. An association between an HFD and alterations in emotional behavior was found in most of the studies selected.

Prenatal androgen exposure causes a sexually dimorphic transgenerational increase in offspring susceptibility to anxiety disorders

If and how obesity and elevated androgens in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affect their offspring's psychiatric health is unclear. Using data from Swedish population health registers, we showed that daughters of mothers with PCOS have a 78% increased risk of being diagnosed with anxiety disorders. We next generated a PCOS-like mouse (F₀) model induced by androgen exposure during late gestation, with or without diet-induced maternal obesity, and showed that the first generation (F₁) female offspring develop anxiety-like behavior, which is transgenerationally transmitted through the female germline into the third generation of female offspring (F₃) in the androgenized lineage. In contrast, following the male germline, F₃ male offspring (mF₃) displayed anxiety-like behavior in the androgenized and the obese lineages. Using a targeted approach to search for molecular targets within the amygdala, we identified five differentially expressed genes involved in anxiety-like behavior in F₃ females in the androgenized lineage and eight genes in the obese lineage. In mF₃ male offspring, three genes were dysregulated in the obese lineage but none in the androgenized lineage. Finally, we performed in vitro fertilization (IVF) using a PCOS mouse model of continuous androgen exposure. We showed that the IVF generated F₁ and F₂ offspring in the female germline did not develop anxiety-like behavior, while the F₂ male offspring (mF₂) in the male germline did. Our findings provide evidence that elevated maternal androgens in PCOS and maternal obesity may underlie the risk of a transgenerational transmission of anxiety disorders in children of women with PCOS.

Maternal stressors and the developmental origins of neuropsychiatric risk

The maternal environment during pregnancy is critical for fetal development and perinatal perturbations can prime offspring disease risk. Here, we briefly review evidence linking two well-characterized maternal stressors - psychosocial stress and infection - to increased neuropsychiatric risk in offspring. In the current climate of increasing obesity and globalization of the Western-style diet, maternal overnutrition emerges as a pressing public health concern. We focus our attention on recent epidemiological and animal model evidence showing that, like psychosocial stress and infection, maternal overnutrition can also increase offspring neuropsychiatric risk. Using lessons learned from the psychosocial stress and infection literature, we discuss how altered maternal and placental physiology in the setting of overnutrition may contribute to abnormal fetal development and resulting neuropsychiatric outcomes. A better understanding of converging pathophysiological pathways shared between stressors may enable development of interventions against neuropsychiatric illnesses that may be beneficial across stressors.

Diet-Induced Modification of the Sperm Epigenome Programs Metabolism and Behavior

Globally, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. The rapidly increasing numbers of overweight people can be traced back to overconsumption of energy-dense, poor-quality foods as well as physical inactivity. This development has far-reaching and costly implications. Not only is obesity associated with serious physiological and psychological complications, but mounting evidence also indicates a ripple effect through generations via epigenetic changes. Parental obesity could induce intergenerational and transgenerational changes in metabolic and brain function of the offspring. Most research has focused on maternal epigenetic and gestational effects; however, paternal contributions are likely to be substantial. We focus on the latest advances in understanding the mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance of obesity-evoked metabolic and neurobiological changes through the paternal germline that predict wide-ranging consequences for the following generation(s).

Nutritional psychoneuroimmunology: Is the inflammasome a critical convergence point for stress and nutritional dysregulation?

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) aims to elucidate mechanisms by which the immune system can influence behavior. Given the complexity of the brain, studies using inbred rodents have shed critical insight into the presumed vagaries of the human condition. This is particularly true for stress modeling where adverse stimuli, conditions and/or interactions elicit patterned behavioral reactions that can translate across species. As example, sickness behaviors are as easily recognized in mice as they are in humans, and a family pet. Recently, nutrition has gained prominence as a regulator of brain function. Once perceived as mostly a peripheral player, except when manifest at extremes like starvation or gluttony, nutritional and/or metabolic stress is now recognized as a worrisome contributor to poor mental health especially in those who suffer from food insecurity or overnutrition. In this review, we will explore emerging areas of rodent research that demonstrate the impact of nutritional status on the stressed brain. Our overall goal is to implicate inflammasome activation as a critical convergence point for stress and nutritional dysregulation. In doing so, we will present results from studies focused on macronutrient, micronutrient and dietary bioactives so as to encourage innovative investigation into the emerging field of nutritional PNI.

Pre- and Post-natal High Fat Feeding Differentially Affects the Structure and Integrity of the Neurovascular Unit of 16-Month Old Male and Female Mice

Compelling experimental and clinical evidence supports a role for maternal obesity in offspring health. Adult children of obese mothers are at greater risk of obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke. These offspring may also be at greater risk of age-related neurodegenerative diseases for which mid-life obesity is a risk factor. Rodent diet-induced obesity models have shown that high fat (HF) diet consumption damages the integrity of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in the adult brain. However, there is currently little information about the effect of chronic HF feeding on the BBB of aged animals. Moreover, the long-term consequences of maternal obesity on the cerebrovasculature of aged offspring are not known. This study determined the impact of pre- and post-natal HF diet on the structure and integrity of cerebral blood vessels in aged male and female mice. Female C57Bl/6 mice were fed either a 10% fat control (C) or 45% HF diet before mating and during gestation and lactation. At weaning, male and female offspring were fed the C or HF diet until sacrifice at 16-months of age. Both dams and offspring fed the HF diet weighed significantly more than mice fed the C diet. Post-natal HF diet exposure increased hippocampal BBB leakiness in female offspring, in association with loss of astrocyte endfoot coverage of arteries. Markers of tight junctions, pericytes or smooth muscle cells were not altered by pre- or post-natal HF diet. Male offspring born to HF-fed mothers showed decreased parenchymal GFAP expression compared to offspring of mothers fed C diet, while microglial and macrophage markers were higher in the same female diet group. In addition, female offspring exposed to the HF diet for their entire lifespan showed more significant changes in vessel structure, BBB permeability and inflammation compared to male animals. These results suggest that the long-term impact of prenatal HF diet on the integrity of cerebral blood vessels differs between male and female offspring depending on the post-natal diet. This may have implications for the prevention and management of age- and obesity-related cerebrovascular diseases that differentially affect men and women.

Maternal high fat diet programs hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in adult rat offspring

Maternal environmental factors such as diet have profound effects on offspring development and later health. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is an important stress neuroendocrine system that is subject to programming by early life challenges. The present study was further to investigate whether maternal high fat diet (HFD) exposure during rat pregnancy and lactation can alter the HPA axis activity in adult male offspring. We observed that maternal HFD consumption exerted long-term effects on the basal activity of the HPA axis in adult offspring, with increased mean plasma corticosterone levels that result from elevated steroid pulse frequence and pulse amplitude. More importantly, maternal HFD offspring displayed enhanced corticosterone responses to restraint (1 h) and lipopolysaccharide (25 μg/kg, iv) but not insulin-induced hypoglycemia (0.3U/kg, iv) stress, suggesting a stressor-specific effect of maternal diet on the hyperresponsiveness of the HPA axis to stress. Additionally, maternal HFD exposure markedly attenuated the habituation of HPA responses to repeated restraint stress. These findings demonstrate that perinatal HFD exposure has a potent and long-lasting influence on development of neuroendocrine regulatory mechanisms. Maternal HFD consumption significantly increased basal corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA expression in the paraventricular nucleus; nevertheless, similar increments in CRF mRNA levels following restraint were observed between maternal HFD offspring and control rats. Furthermore, the medial and central nuclei of amygdala played a pivotal role in maternal HFD-induced sensitization of the HPA response to psychological and systemic stress, respectively, suggesting that different neural pathways may mediate maternal HFD-induced HPA hyperresponsivity to different types of stressors. Take together, the long-term effects of maternal HFD challenge on the central regulation of the HPA axis, therefore, expose the adult offspring to greater HPA function throughout lifespan, in stressor-specific and region-specific manner.

Maternal high-fat diet programs cerebrovascular remodeling in adult rat offspring

Maternal environmental factors such as diet have consequences on later health of the offspring. We found that maternal high-fat diet (HFD) exposure renders adult offspring brain more susceptible to ischemic injury. The present study was further to investigate whether HFD consumption during rat pregnancy and lactation influences the cerebral vasculature in adult male offspring. Besides the endothelial damage observed in the transmission electron microscopy, the MCAs of offspring from fat-fed dams fed with control diet (HFD/C) also displayed increased wall thickness and media/lumen ratio, suggesting that cerebrovascular hypertrophy or hyperplasia occurs. Moreover, smaller lumen diameter and elevated myogenic tone of the MCAs over a range of intralumenal pressures indicate inward cerebrovascular remodeling in HFD/C rats, with a concomitant increase in vessel stiffness. More importantly, both wire and pressure myography demonstrated that maternal HFD intake also enhanced the MCAs contractility to ET-1, accompanied by increases in ET types A receptor (ET_AR) but not B (ET_BR) density in the arteries. Furthermore, ET_AR antagonism but not ET_BR antagonism restored maternal HFD-induced cerebrovascular dysfunction in adult offspring. Taken together, maternal diet can substantially influence adult offspring cerebrovascular health, through remodeling of both structure and function, at least partially in an ET-1 manner.

Effects of paternal high-fat diet and rearing environment on maternal investment and development of defensive responses in the offspring

Paternal preconception risk factors (e.g. stress, diet, drug use) correlate with metabolic dysfunction in offspring, which is often comorbid with depressive and anxiety-like phenotypes. Detection of these risk factors or deleterious phenotypes informs a female about prevailing ecological demands, in addition to potential adverse environment-induced phenotypes that may be disseminated to her offspring. We examined whether a F₀ male rat's prior exposure to an obesogenic high-fat diet (HFD) influences a female's attraction towards a male, subsequent mother-infant interactions and the development of defensive (emotional) responses in the F₁ offspring. Females displayed less interest in the HFD exposed F₀ males relative to control diet-exposed F₀ males. Dams that reared F₁ offspring in larger, semi-naturalistic housing provided more licking and grooming and active arched-back-nursing behavior. However, some of these effects interacted with paternal experience. F₀ HFD and maternal rearing environment revealed sex-dependent, between group differences in F₁ offspring wean weight, juvenile social interactions and anxiety-like behavior in adolescence. Our results show for the first time in mammals that male exposure to HFD may contribute to stable behavioral variation among females in courtship, maternal care, even when the females are not directly exposed to a HFD, and anxiety-like behavior in F₁ offspring. Furthermore, when offspring were exposed to a predatory threat, hypothalamic Crf gene regulation was influenced by early housing. These results, together with our previous findings, suggest that paternal experience and maternal rearing conditions can influence maternal behavior and development of defensive responses of offspring.

Long-Term Sex-Dependent Vulnerability to Metabolic challenges in Prenatally Stressed Rats

Prenatal stress (PNS) might affect the developmental programming of adult chronic diseases such as metabolic and mood disorders. The molecular mechanisms underlying such regulations may rely upon long-term changes in stress-responsive effectors such as Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) that can affect neuronal plasticity underlying mood disorders and may also play a role in metabolic regulation. Based upon previous data, we hypothesized that PNS might lead to greater vulnerability to an obesogenic challenge experienced at adulthood. In order to investigate our hypothesis, pregnant Sprague-Dawley female rats underwent a chronic procedure of restraint stress during the last week of gestation. The adult offspring were then challenged with a high fat diet (HFD) over 8 weeks and tested for metabolic and emotional endpoints. Moreover, brain specific changes in Bdnf expression levels were also assessed. Overall, HFD resulted in increased caloric intake, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and higher circulating levels of leptin, while PNS increased the leptin/adiponectin ratio, an index of metabolic risk in adult male subjects. Interestingly, HFD consumption increased anxiety-like behaviors in the Elevated Plus Maze, particularly in males, and this effect was buffered by PNS. Levels of Bdnf were finely modulated by PNS and HFD in a region- and sex-dependent fashion: female offspring overall showed greater plasticity, possibly mediated through increased total Bdnf mRNA expression both in the hippocampus and in the hypothalamus. In conclusion, while the experience of maternal stress during intrauterine life promotes metabolic dysfunction induced by a HFD at adulthood, the interaction between PNS and HFD is positive in male subjects, and in agreement with the match-mismatch hypothesis, resulting in a reduction of anxious behaviors.

A Review of the Impact of Maternal Obesity on the Cognitive Function and Mental Health of the Offspring

Globally, more than 20% of women of reproductive age are currently estimated to be obese. Children born to obese mothers are at higher risk of developing obesity, coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and asthma in adulthood. Increasing clinical and experimental evidence suggests that maternal obesity also affects the health and function of the offspring brain across the lifespan. This review summarizes the current findings from human and animal studies that detail the impact of maternal obesity on aspects of learning, memory, motivation, affective disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and neurodegeneration in the offspring. Epigenetic mechanisms that may contribute to this mother–child interaction are also discussed.

Maternal high-fat diet influences stroke outcome in adult rat offspring

Diet-induced epigenetic modifications in early life could contribute to later health problem. However, it remains to be established whether high-fat diet (HFD) consumption during pregnancy and the suckling period could predispose the offspring to stroke. The present study investigated the influence of maternal HFD on stroke outcome in adult offspring. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a normal diet (5.3% fat) or a HFD (25.7% fat), just before pregnancy until the end of lactation. Male offspring were fed with the control diet or the HFD after weaning, to form four groups (control offspring fed with the control diet (C/C) or the HFD (C/HFD) and offspring of fat-fed dams fed with the control diet (HFD/C) or the HFD (HFD/HFD)). The offspring received middle cerebral artery occlusion on day 120 followed by behavioral tests (neurological deficit score, staircase-reaching test and beam-traversing test), and infarct volumes were also calculated. We found that the HFD/C rats displayed larger infarct volume and aggravated functional deficits (all P<0.05), compared with the C/C rats, indicating that maternal fat-rich diet renders the brain more susceptible to the consequences of ischemic injury. Moreover, maternal HFD offspring displayed elevated glucocorticoid concentrations following stroke, and increased glucocorticoid receptor expression. In addition, adrenalectomy reversed the effects of maternal HFD on stroke outcome when corticosterone was replaced at baseline, but not ischemic, concentrations. Furthermore, expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the ipsilateral hippocampus was decreased in the HFD/C offspring (P<0.05), compared with the C/C offspring. Taken together, maternal diet can substantially influence adult cerebrovascular health, through the programming of central BDNF expression and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.