Maternal Protein Restriction in Rats Alters the Expression of Genes Involved in Mitochondrial Metabolism and Epitranscriptomics in Fetal Hypothalamus

Unraveling the Molecular Mechanisms of the Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Fetal Protein Deficiency: Insights From Rodent Models and Public Health Implications

Fetal brain development requires increased maternal protein intake to ensure that offspring reach their optimal cognitive potential in infancy and adulthood. While protein deficiency remains a prevalent issue in developing countries, it is also reemerging in Western societies due to the growing adoption of plant-based diets, some of which are monotonous and may fail to provide sufficient amino acids crucial for the brain's critical developmental phase. Confounding variables in human nutritional research have impeded our understanding of the precise impact of protein deficiency on fetal neurodevelopment, as well as its implications for childhood neurocognitive performance. Moreover, it remains unclear whether such deficiency could predispose to mental health problems in adulthood, mirroring observations in individuals exposed to prenatal famine. In this review, we sought to evaluate mechanistic data derived from rodent models, placing special emphasis on the involvement of neuroendocrine axes, the influence of sex and timing, epigenetic modifications, and cellular metabolism. Despite notable progress, critical knowledge gaps remain, including understanding the long-term reversibility of effects due to fetal protein restriction and the interplay between genetic predisposition and environmental factors. Enhancing our understanding of the precise mechanisms that connect prenatal nutrition to brain development in future research endeavors can be significantly advanced by integrating multiomics approaches and utilizing additional alternative models such as nonhuman primates. Furthermore, it is crucial to investigate potential interventions aimed at alleviating adverse outcomes. Ultimately, this research has profound implications for guiding public health strategies aimed at raising awareness about the crucial role of optimal maternal nutrition in supporting fetal neurodevelopment.

Combined prenatal to postnatal protein restriction augments protein quality control processes and proteolysis in the muscle of rat offspring

Several human epidemiological and animal studies suggest that a maternal low-protein (MLP) diet affects skeletal muscle (SM) health in the offspring. However, effect of combined prenatal to postnatal protein restriction (chronic PR) and prenatal to perinatal protein restriction (PR) with postnatal rehabilitation maternal protein restriction (MPR) on protein quality control (PQC) processes and proteolysis in the offspring remains poorly understood. The current study explored the impact of chronic PR and MPR on SM protein degradation rates, chaperones, unfolded protein response (UPR), ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), autophagy, and apoptosis, in the adult offspring. Wistar rats were randomly assigned to a normal protein (NP; 20% casein), or low-protein (LP; 8% casein) isocaloric diets from 7 weeks prior to breeding through weaning. Offspring born to NP dams received the same diet (NP offspring) while a group of LP offspring remained on LP diet and another group was rehabilitated with NP diet (LPR offspring) from weaning for 16 weeks. LP offspring displayed lower body weight, lean mass, and myofiber cross-sectional area than NP. Furthermore, LP offspring demonstrated increased total protein degradation, urinary 3-methyl histidine, ER stress, autophagy, UPS components, proteasomal activity, muscle atrophy markers, and apoptosis-related proteins than NP. However, MPR showed little or no effect on muscle proteolysis, UPR, UPS, autophagy, apoptosis, and muscle atrophy in LPR offspring. These results indicate that exposure to chronic PR diets induces muscle atrophy and accelerates SM proteolysis via augmenting PQC processes in the offspring, while MPR shows little or no effect.

Maternal Protein Restriction in Rats Alters Postnatal Growth and Brain Lipid Sensing in Female Offspring

Perinatal nutrition is a key player in the susceptibility to developing metabolic diseases in adulthood, leading to the concept of "metabolic programming". The aim of this study was to assess the impact of maternal protein restriction during gestation and lactation on glucose homeostasis and eating behaviour in female offspring. Pregnant rats were fed a normal or protein-restricted (PR) diet and followed throughout gestation and lactation. Body weight, glucose homeostasis, and eating behaviour were evaluated in offspring, especially in females. Body weight gain was lower in PR dams during lactation only, despite different food and water intakes throughout gestation and lactation. Plasma concentration of leptin, adiponectin and triglycerides increased drastically before delivery in PR dams in relation to fat deposits. Although all pups had identical birth body weight, PR offspring body weight differed from control offspring around postnatal day 10 and remained lower until adulthood. Offspring glucose homeostasis was mildly impacted by maternal PR, although insulin secretion was reduced for PR rats at adulthood. Food intake, satiety response, and cerebral activation were examined after a lipid preload and demonstrated some differences between the two groups of rats. Maternal PR during gestation and lactation does induce extrauterine growth restriction, accompanied by alterations in maternal plasma leptin and adiponectin levels, which may be involved in programming the alterations in eating behaviour observed in females at adulthood.

Hypothalamic neuropeptides and neurocircuitries in Prader Willi syndrome

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a rare and incurable congenital neurodevelopmental disorder, resulting from the absence of expression of a group of genes on the paternally acquired chromosome 15q11-q13. Phenotypical characteristics of PWS include infantile hypotonia, short stature, incomplete pubertal development, hyperphagia and morbid obesity. Hypothalamic dysfunction in controlling body weight and food intake is a hallmark of PWS. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that PWS subjects have abnormal neurocircuitry engaged in the hedonic and physiological control of feeding behavior. This is translated into diminished production of hypothalamic effector peptides which are responsible for the coordination of energy homeostasis and satiety. So far, studies with animal models for PWS and with human post-mortem hypothalamic specimens demonstrated changes particularly in the infundibular and the paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus, both in orexigenic and anorexigenic neural populations. Moreover, many PWS patients have a severe endocrine dysfunction, e.g. central hypogonadism and/or growth hormone deficiency, which may contribute to the development of increased fat mass, especially if left untreated. Additionally, the role of non-neuronal cells, such as astrocytes and microglia in the hypothalamic dysregulation in PWS is yet to be determined. Notably, microglial activation is persistently present in non-genetic obesity. To what extent microglia, and other glial cells, are affected in PWS is poorly understood. The elucidation of the hypothalamic dysfunction in PWS could prove to be a key feature of rational therapeutic management in this syndrome. This review aims to examine the evidence for hypothalamic dysfunction, both at the neuropeptidergic and circuitry levels, and its correlation with the pathophysiology of PWS.