Perinatal and postweaning high-fat diet consumption promotes dysfunction, inflammation, in mesenteric adipose tissue in young rats.

Consumption of a diet high in fat during the critical developmental period may alter the structure and expression of inflammatory genes in mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT). Aim: To investigate the effects of consumption of a high-fat diet in the perinatal period and after weaning on histologic dysfunction and inflammation in mesenteric adipose tissue of young rats. Ten pregnant Wistar rats were fed a high-fat diet (H,n=5) or a control (C,n=5) during gestation and lactation. After weaning, thirty-eight male pups formed: group C pups were randomly assigned to groups CC and CH, which received a control diet and a high-fat diet, respectively. Similarly, group H pups were assigned to groups HC and HH, which received the control diet and the high-fat diet, respectively. The MAT was collected, processed, and analyzed by histochemical and molecular techniques. Taken together, our results suggest that maternal consumption of a high-fat diet, followed by consumption of the same diet in the postweaning period, causes dysfunction in the MAT of the offspring, resulting in increased adipocyte area, which in turn results in a reduction in adipocytes. Histopathological changes, increased Il-6 expression, reduced on Nf-κb expression were also caused by the high-fat diet. It can be concluded that maternal consumption of a high-fat diet, followed by consumption in the postweaning a strong influence on the life of offspring and predisposes them to the development of chronic diseases and inflammation in MAT.