Effect of maternal high-fat diet on placental phenotype in mice

Objective·To analyze the effects of maternal high-fat diet on placental phenotype, and investigate the role of placental microenvironment in the intergenerational transmission.Methods·The 3-week-old C57BL/6J female mice were fed with either the high-fat diet (HFD group) or the control diet (CD group) for 5 weeks before mating and throughout gestation. Placentas and fetal liver tissues were collected from maternal mice after 20 d of gestation. The effects of maternal HFD on the placental inflammation and placental structure were investigated by hematoxylin-eosin staining (H-E staining), immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and RT-PCR. The lipid deposition levels in fetal livers were also detected. Body weight changes, fasting blood glucose and glucose tolerance levels of the 3-week-old weaned mice were also detected.Results·The body weight of female mice in the HFD group increased significantly, and the liver triacylglycerol (TAG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels were higher than those in the CD group (all P0.05). Compared to the CD group, the body weight, fasting blood glucose level and the area under the glucose tolerance curve of the 3-week-old weaned mice of the HFD group were increased significantly (all P