GESTATIONAL OBESITY ACCENTUATES OBESITY IN OBESITY-PRONE PROGENY

Maternal obesity and genetic background can affect the development of obesity and diabetes in offspring. Here we used selected strains of ra ts resistant (DR) vs. susceptible to development of diet-induced obesi ty (DIO) on high-energy (HE) diets to assess this issue. DR and DIO da ms were fed either Chow or HE diet for 4 wk. DIO HE diet-fed darns and additional DR rats fed a palatable liquid diet (Ensure) became more o bese and hyperinsulinemic than the other groups. During lactation, all dams were fed their respective diets, and offspring were fed Chow fro m weaning to 16 wk of age. All offspring of DIO darns gained more weig ht and had heavier retroperitoneal fat pads and higher leptin levels t han DR progeny, but offspring of the more obese DIO HE dams had heavie r fat pads and higher glucose levels than DIO Chow offspring. After 4 wk on HE diet, all DIO offspring gained more weight and had heavier to tal adipose depots and higher insulin and leptin levels than DR offspr ing. Offspring of DIO HE dams also gained more weight and had heavier fat depots and higher leptin levels than DIO Chow offspring. Therefore maternal obesity and hyperinsulinemia were associated with increased obesity in those offspring already genetically predisposed to become o bese.