OR23-2 Mild Maternal Undernutrition Results in Transcript Regulation in the Fat of Male Offspring that Correlates with Resistance to High Fat Diet Induced Weight Gain

Maternal undernutrition (MU) during fetal development profoundly effects offspring metabolism, resulting in either blunting or premature shifting of the neonatal leptin surge, and can cause metabolic dysfunction in adulthood. We developed a mild MU model in FVB mice, where dams received 20% less caloric intake (underfed) compared to control, ad libitum fed (Fed) mice. As previously reported, underfed progeny exhibited a leptin surge that was 3 days earlier (PND8) than controls (PND11) and PND1 GH levels were 354% higher. However serum IGF-1 was 55% lower (p=0.027) at PND16 in underfed progeny, resulting in delayed puberty and growth deficiencies which persisted in the male offspring. At 3 months, fed and underfed offspring received either a 45% HFD or 10% fat (Control) diet for 16 weeks, resulting in a weight gain (>12 g) in progeny from fed dams. However, underfed females gained only 8.74 g on the HFD, [lower than fed females (p=0.03)]. More surprisingly, underfed males showed no weight gain in response to the HFD. The study was replicated, yielding the same results. We hypothesize that resistance to HFD induced weight gain by underfed males may be due to altered transcriptome expression. We investigated this unusual response through RNA sequencing of the pituitary, fat and liver of both fed and underfed male progeny. Pituitary and liver transcriptome analysis are ongoing. This presentation focuses on changes in the fat transcriptome. Fat from Fed HFD males had 592 upregulated and 153 downregulated transcripts when compared to controls. Strikingly, fat of underfed HFD males had only 3 upregulated and 3 downregulated transcripts when compared to underfed controls. To ascertain potential protective influences, transcripts in the fat of Fed HFD males were compared with those of underfed HFD males. Prelid3a, Peg3, and Thbs1 were differentially expressed in underfed HFD males compared to Fed HFD males. Prelid3a, (involved in mitochondrial lipid metabolism and transport) was downregulated 2.9 fold (0.035 adj. P) in underfed HFD fat. Peg3,(involved in fat accumulation when decreased) was increased in underfed HFD fat by 2.4 fold (0.0297 adj. P). Thbs1 was also increased by 2.7 fold (0.0476 adj. P) in underfed HFD fat. Thbs1 contributes to HFD weight gain when increased, but can also improve hepatic steatosis and promote a protective ER stress response. Pde3b, found to be protective against obesity, was reduced 1.4 fold (0.002 adj. P) in Fed HFD males, but unchanged in underfed HFD males. These data indicate that mild undernutrition causes a premature leptin surge, marked by sex-specific differences in offspring growth and transcriptome regulation in the fat of male offspring that is beneficial to blunting HFD induced weight gain. Presentation: Monday, June 13, 2022 11:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.