aternal high-fat diet in mice induces cerebrovascular, microglial and long-term behavioural alterations in offsprin

Author(s):Show less -

Bordeleau, Maude ^{[1, 2]} ; Comin, Cesar H. ^[3] ; de Cossio, Lourdes Fernandez ^{[1, 4]} ; Lacabanne, Chloe ^[1] ; Freitas-Andrade, Moises ^{[5, 6, 7]} ; Ibanez, Fernando Gonzalez ^{[8, 9, 2]} ; Raman-Nair, Joanna ^{[5, 6, 7]} ; Wakem, Michael ^[10] ; Chakravarty, Mallar ^{[11, 12, 1, 13]} ; Costa, Luciano da F. ^[14] ; Lacoste, Baptiste ^{[5, 6, 7]} ; Tremblay, Marie-Eve ^{[8, 15, 9, 16, 2]}

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] McGill Univ, Integrated Program Neurosci, Montreal, PQ - Canada

^[2] Univ Laval, CRCHU Quebec, Neurosci Axis, Quebec City, PQ - Canada

^[3] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Comp Sci, Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Calif La Jolla, Dept Neurosci, San Diego, CA - USA

^[5] Univ Ottawa, Brain & Mind Res Inst, Ottawa, ON - Canada

^[6] Univ Ottawa, Fac Med, Dept Cellular & Mol Med, Ottawa, ON - Canada

^[7] Ottawa Hosp Res Inst, Neurosci Program, Ottawa, ON - Canada

^[8] Univ Victoria, Div Med Sci, Victoria, BC - Canada

^[9] Univ Laval, Dept Med Mol, Quebec City, PQ - Canada

^[10] Thermo Fisher Sci, Genet Sci Div, Burlington, ON - Canada

^[11] McGill Univ, Dept Psychiat, Montreal, PQ - Canada

^[12] McGill Univ, Dept Biol & Biomed Engn, Montreal, PQ - Canada

^[13] McGill Univ, Douglas Mental Hlth Univ, Cerebral Imaging Ctr, Montreal, PQ - Canada

^[14] Univ Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Inst Phys, Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[15] Univ British Columbia, Dept Biochem & Mol Biol, Vancouver, BC - Canada

^[16] McGill Univ, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Montreal, PQ - Canada

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY; v. 5, n. 1 JAN 11 2022.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

In order to advance our understanding of the effects of maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) on the cerebrovascular health of offspring, Bordeleau et al. use a translational mouse model of mHFD exposure. They demonstrate that mHFD induces cerebrovascular and microglial changes in the offspring as well as behavioural alterations that are reminiscent of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with repetitive behaviours at adulthood. Various environmental exposures during pregnancy, like maternal diet, can compromise, at critical periods of development, the neurovascular maturation of the offspring. Foetal exposure to maternal high-fat diet (mHFD), common to Western societies, has been shown to disturb neurovascular development in neonates and long-term permeability of the neurovasculature. Nevertheless, the effects of mHFD on the offspring's cerebrovascular health remains largely elusive. Here, we sought to address this knowledge gap by using a translational mouse model of mHFD exposure. Three-dimensional and ultrastructure analysis of the neurovascular unit (vasculature and parenchymal cells) in mHFD-exposed offspring revealed major alterations of the neurovascular organization and metabolism. These alterations were accompanied by changes in the expression of genes involved in metabolism and immunity, indicating that neurovascular changes may result from abnormal brain metabolism and immune regulation. In addition, mHFD-exposed offspring showed persisting behavioural alterations reminiscent of neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically an increase in stereotyped and repetitive behaviours into adulthood. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/22308-2 - Intermediate representations in Computational Science for knowledge discovery
• Grantee: Roberto Marcondes Cesar Junior
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 18/09125-4 - Representation, characterization and modeling of biological images using complex networks
• Grantee: Cesar Henrique Comin
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants