Alpha linolenic acid in maternal diet halts the lipid disarray due to saturated fatty acids in the liver of mice offspring at weaning

BACKGROUND: Alpha linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3) in maternal diets has been shown to attenuate obesity associated insulin resistance (IR) in adult offspring in mice. The objective in the present study was to detect the early effects of maternal dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA) and their partial substitution with ω-3 ALA, docosa hexenoic acid (DHA,22:6) and eicosapentenoic acid 20:5 (EPA,20:5) on the HOMA index, liver lipids and fatty acid desaturases in the offspring at weaning. METHODS: 3 month old C57Bl6/J female mice were fed diets containing normal amount of calories but rich in SFA alone or partially replaced with ALA, DHA or EPA before mating, during pregnancy and lactation. RESULTS: Pregnant mice fed SFA produced offspring with the highest HOMA index, liver lipids and desaturase activities. ALA prevented SFA induced lipid increase but DHA and EPA only reduced it by 42% and 31% respectively. ALA, DHA and EPA decreased HOMA index by 84%, 75% and 83% respectively. ALA, DHA and EPA decreased Δ6 and SCD1 desaturase activities about 30%. CONCLUSIONS: SFA feeding to mothers predisposes their offspring to develop IR and liver lipid accumulation already at weaning. ω3 fatty acids reduce IR, ALA halts lipid accumulation whereas DHA and EPA only blunt it.ALA and DHA restore the increased SCD1 to normal. These studies suggest that ω-3 fatty acids have different potencies to preclude lipid accumulation in the offspring partially by affecting pathways associated to SCD1 modulation.