Inflammation may be a mechanism of maternal programming because it has the capacity to alter the maternal environment and can persist postnatally in offspring tissues. This study evaluated the effects of restricted- and over-feeding on maternal and offspring inflammatory gene expression using reverse transcription (RT)-PCR arrays. Pregnant ewes were fed 60% (Restricted), 100% (Control), or 140% (Over) of National Research Council requirements beginning on day 30.2 ± 0.2 of gestation. Maternal (n = 8–9 ewes per diet) circulating nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) and expression of 84 inflammatory genes were evaluated at five stages during gestation. Offspring (n = 6 per diet per age) inflammatory gene expression was evaluated in the circulation and liver at day 135 of gestation and birth. Throughout gestation, circulating NEFA increased in Restricted mothers but not Over. Expression of different proinflammatory mediators increased in Over and Restricted mothers, but was diet-dependent. Maternal diet altered offspring systemic and hepatic expression of genes involved in chemotaxis at late gestation and cytokine production at birth, but the offspring response was distinct from the maternal. In the perinatal offspring, maternal nutrient restriction increased hepatic chemokine (CC motif) ligand 16 and tumor necrosis factor expression. Alternately, maternal overnutrition increased offspring systemic expression of factors induced by hypoxia, whereas expression of factors regulating hepatocyte proliferation and differentiation were altered in the liver. Maternal nutrient restriction and overnutrition may differentially predispose offspring to liver dysfunction through an altered hepatic inflammatory microenvironment that contributes to immune and metabolic disturbances postnatally.
Summary Sentence
Restricted- and over-feeding differentially alter maternal inflammation and metabolism and indirectly promote systemic and hepatic inflammation in the perinatal offspring, which may contribute to liver dysfunction postnatally.
