Adult-Onset Obesity Reveals Prenatal Programming of Glucose-Insulin Sensitivity in Male Sheep Nutrient Restricted during Late Gestation

Background

Obesity invokes a range of metabolic disturbances, but the transition from a poor to excessive nutritional environment may exacerbate adult metabolic dysfunction. The current study investigated global maternal nutrient restriction during early or late gestation on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in the adult offspring when lean and obese.

Methods/Principal Findings

Pregnant sheep received adequate (1.0M; CE, n = 6) or energy restricted (0.7M) diet during early (1–65 days; LEE, n = 6) or late (65–128 days; LEL, n = 7) gestation (term ∼147 days). Subsequent offspring remained on pasture until 1.5 years when all received glucose and insulin tolerance tests (GTT & ITT) and body composition determination by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). All animals were then exposed to an obesogenic environment for 6–7 months and all protocols repeated. Prenatal dietary treatment had no effect on birth weight or on metabolic endpoints when animals were ‘lean’ (1.5 years). Obesity revealed generalised metabolic ‘inflexibility’ and insulin resistance; characterised by blunted excursions of plasma NEFA and increased insulin_AUC (from 133 to 341 s.e.d. 26] ng.ml⁻¹.120 mins) during a GTT, respectively. For LEL vs. CE, the peak in plasma insulin when obese was greater (7.8 vs. 4.7 s.e.d. 1.1] ng.ml⁻¹) and was exacerbated by offspring sex (i.e. 9.8 vs. 4.4 s.e.d. 1.16] ng.ml⁻¹; LEL male vs. CE male, respectively). Acquisition of obesity also significantly influenced the plasma lipid and protein profile to suggest, overall, greater net lipogenesis and reduced protein metabolism.

Conclusions

This study indicates generalised metabolic dysfunction with adult-onset obesity which also exacerbates and ‘reveals’ programming of glucose-insulin sensitivity in male offspring prenatally exposed to maternal undernutrition during late gestation. Taken together, the data suggest that metabolic function appears little compromised in young prenatally ‘programmed’ animals so long as weight is adequately controlled. Nutritional excess in adulthood exacerbates any programmed phenotype, indicating greater vigilance over weight control is required for those individuals exposed to nutritional thrift during gestation.