Effects of dietary obesity in fathers on gene expression of islets in the female offspring

The global prevalence of obesity is increasing across age and gender. The rising burden of obesity in young people contributes to the early emergence of type 2 diabetes. Having one parent obese is an independent risk factor for childhood obesity. While the detrimental impact of diet-induced maternal obesity on offspring is well established, the extent of the contribution of obese fathers is unclear, as is the role of non-genetic factors in the casual pathway. Here we show that paternal high fat diet exposure programmed -cell dysfunction in their F1 female offspring. Chronic high fat diet consumption in Sprague Dawley fathers led to increased body weight, adiposity, impaired glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Relative to controls, their female offspring had lower body weight at day-1, increased pubertal growth rate, impaired insulin secretion and glucose tolerance, in the absence of obesity or increased adiposity. Paternal high fat diet was observed to alter gene expression of pancreatic islet genes in adult female offspring (P < 0.001); affected functional clusters includes calcium ion binding, insulin, apoptosis, Wnt and cell cycle organ/system development. This is the first reported study in mammals describing non-genetic, intergenerational transmission of metabolic sequelae of high fat diet from father to offspring. These findings support a role of fathers in metabolic programming of offspring and form a framework for further studies.

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Ng SF, Lin RC, Laybutt DR, Barres R, Owens JA, Morris MJ