Maternal high-energy diet impacts offspring behavior in adulthood

Obesity is one of the most serious and costly health challenges facing the modern world. Increasing evidence suggests that the risk of developing a metabolic syndrome or obesity may be influenced very early in the development, especially through inappropriate fetal and/or neonatal nutrition. Outcomes from epidemiological studies indicate that maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation periods has a profound impact on behavior of the offspring in adulthood. In this study, an intergenerational dietary model based on overfeeding of experimental mice during prenatal and early postnatal development was used to produce mice with various body conditions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of the maternal high-energy diet during pregnancy and lactation periods on some behavioural tasks including locomotor activity, learning, memory, anxiety and nociception. Behavioural tests were performed to analyze locomotor activity and anxiety behaviour in the open field test, learning and memory processes in the Barnes maze and nociceptive sensitivity in the hot plate test. Our findings show that maternal high-energy diet administered during pregnancy and lactation enhances anxiety-related behaviour in offspring regardless of its body conditions. At the same time, maternal high-energy diet decreases locomotor activity and impairs learning and memory in offspring but only in mice where extreme phenotype, such as significant overweight/adiposity or obesity is manifested.