Citation:

Yates, B., D. Freeborn, M. Valdez, A. Johnstone, J. Richards, P. Kodavanti, AND T. Damodaran. The Effects of Maternal High-Fat Diet and Exercise on Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress in the Brains of Offspring After Ozone Exposure. GURS at NC Central University, Durham, NC, April 07, 2018.

Impact/Purpose:

This study understands the interaction of non-chemical and chemical stressors using animal models. Non-chemical stressors selected in this study are high-fat diet and lifestyle (sedentary or active) while chemical stressor is ozone. The objective is to understand whether maternal high-fat and exercise interact with effects of ozone (O3) exposure on mitochondrial bioenergetics in brains of offspring.

Description:

Epidemiological studies indicate that a sedentary lifestyle along with consumption of high-fat diets contributes to increased incidence of obesity and related metabolic disorders. These disorders during pregnancy may make offspring more susceptible to air pollutants. The brain is unique with specialized functions that require high energy from mitochondrial bioenergetics, a likely target of chemical-induced neurotoxicity. We have investigated whether maternal high-fat and exercise interact with effects of ozone (O3) exposure on mitochondrial bioenergetics in brains of offspring. Female Long-Evans rats were fed either a control diet (CD) or a high fat diet (HF; 60% calories in fat) for 6 weeks starting at 30 days of age and then bred. Gestational day-1 dams were housed with a running wheel (RW) or without (sedentary, SED) until parturition. Adult offspring ~ 160 days were exposed to O3 (0 or 0.8 ppm, 4 hr/day for 2 days). After exposure, brain regions were dissected on ice, snap-frozen and analyzed for superoxide dismutase (SOD), NADH ubiquinone reductase (UBIQ-RD), γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS), and antioxidant homeostasis (total antioxidant substances (TAS) in the cerebellum. SOD was elevated in males from CD- RW mothers. O3 and high diet decreased SOD levels in males. Offspring of RW-mothers appeared to have elevated UBIQ-RD. Males from SED mothers fed HF diets had the lowest levels of UBIQ-RD. O3 decreased γ-GCS in male from CD-RW mothers and in females from HF-RW mothers. O3 had an apparent effect of decreasing TAS. This decrease in TAS was observed in males and females and appeared to be independent of maternal diet and lifestyle. Taken together, current data suggest that maternal diet and lifestyle can influence the susceptibility to oxidative stress in the brains of their offspring. Therefore, both diet and exercise may be useful tools for mothers to protect their children from chemical stressors such as O3 from air pollution. (This abstract does not reflect USEPA policy).

Record Details: