Maternal Diet Supplementation with n-6n-3 Essential Fatty Acids in a 1.2 : 1.0 Ratio Attenuates Metabolic Dysfunction in MSG-Induced Obese Mice

Abstract EN

Essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) prevent cardiometabolic diseases.

We aimed to study whether a diet supplemented with a mixture of n-6/n-3 PUFAs, during perinatal life, attenuates outcomes of long-term metabolic dysfunction in prediabetic and obese mice.

Seventy-day-old virgin female mice were mated.

From the conception day, dams were fed a diet supplemented with sunflower oil and flaxseed powder (containing an n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio of 1.2 : 1.0) throughout pregnancy and lactation, while control dams received a commercial diet.

Newborn mice were treated with monosodium L-glutamate (MSG, 4 mg g−1 body weight per day) for the first 5 days of age.

A batch of weaned pups was sacrificed to quantify the brain and pancreas total lipids; another batch were fed a commercial diet until 90 days of age, where glucose homeostasis and glucose-induced insulin secretion (GIIS) as well as retroperitoneal fat and Lee index were assessed.

MSG-treated mice developed obesity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, pancreatic islet dysfunction, and higher fat stores.

Maternal flaxseed diet-supplementation decreased n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio in the brain and pancreas and blocked glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, GIIS impairment, and obesity development.

The n-6/n-3 essential PUFAs in a ratio of 1.2 : 1.0 supplemented in maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation prevent metabolic dysfunction in MSG-obesity model.