Maternal high-fat diet and Quercetin supplementation during lactation influences ovarian follicular development in female Wistar rat offspring

Maternal nutrition during lactation is a critical determinant of offspring health, particularly in programming reproductive function. While the impact of high maternal dietary fat intake during gestation has been widely studied, the effect during the lactational period remains underexplored. This study investigated the effects of maternal consumption of a lipid-rich diet and quercetin supplementation during lactation on ovarian follicular development in female Wistar rat offspring. Fifteen pregnant Wistar rats were assigned to five treatment groups: one received a standard chow diet (control), while the remaining groups were administered a high-fat diet (HFD) either alone or in combination with quercetin supplementation at doses of 8, 16, or 32 mg/kg body weight. Treatment protocols were implemented throughout lactation and female offspring were weaned onto standard diet. Ovarian tissues were collected on postnatal days (PND) 21 and 35 for histological analysis. HFD significantly reduced primordial and primary follicular counts at PND 21, suggesting impaired ovarian reserve, likely due to oxidative stress and inflammation. High- dose quercetin mitigated these effects by enhancing follicular survival and reducing atresia. By PND 35, primordial follicular counts in HFD-fed offspring showed signs of recovery, but high- dose quercetin continued to exert a protective effect. HFD also negatively impacted secondary and antral follicles, while high-dose quercetin improved their development. Atretic follicular counts increased in HFD-fed offspring but were reduced with high-dose quercetin. These findings suggest that maternal HFD during lactation adversely affects ovarian follicular development in offspring, while high-dose quercetin provides protective benefits, possibly through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.