Hasan Khatib
University of Wisconsin
USA
Title: Effects of maternal diet before and during pregnancy on the traits of the next generation
Biography
Biography: Hasan Khatib
Abstract
In humans, nutritional status of mothers during gestation can induce drastic changes to the fetus through developmental programming, thereby impacting future health of progeny by increasing the risk of such clinical conditions as obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the mechanisms by which nutrition during pregnancy affect growth of offspring are still not clearly understood, nor are the long-term impacts on postnatal health and reproduction traits. Using sheep and cattle animal models, our research has shown that late gestation maternal nutrition can impact postnatal body composition, insulin sensitivity, and growth rate. We evaluated the impact of different maternal isoenergetic diets on the transcriptome of fetal muscle and adipose tissues in sheep. Prepartum diets were associated with notable gene expression changes in fetal tissues. In longissimus dorsi muscle, several significant genes affected myogenesis and muscle differentiation. In subcutaneous and perirenal adipose tissues, many significant genes are involved in adipogenesis, lipogenesis, and adipose tissue development. Pathway analysis revealed that several GO terms and KEGG pathways were enriched with differentially expressed genes associated with tissue and organ development, chromatin biology, and different metabolic processes. These findings provide evidence that maternal nutrition during pregnancy can alter the programming of fetal muscle and fat tissues.