Inflammatory response in visceral fat tissue and liver is prenatally programmed: experimental research.

To investigate the mechanisms of developmental programming we analyzed the effects of maternal stress and food intake on physiological activity of adipose tissue and hepatocellular organization in the offsprings. The experiments were conducted in nonlinear female rats (n=20) and their male offsprings (n=28). During their pregnancy female rats were exposed to social and emotional stress using Pratt's model, and nutritional insults: high sugar diet (HSD) with chronic access to 30% solution of saccharose in drinking water ad libitum, high fat diet (HFD) containing 45% calories from fat or their combination - high sugar and high fat diet (HSFD). The effects of maternal stress and nutrition on severity of visceral fat and liver changes were then examined in offsprings, along with changes in serum levels of the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines: IL-1b, IL-8 (in rats known as GRO/CINC-1), leptin and adiponectin, respectively. Maternal exposure to stress in combination with HSFD resulted in the most prominent changes in the offsprings: histological changes in the visceral fat tissue and liver with cell reorganization and signs of inflammation, 217% increase in IL-1β level, 99% increase in GRO/CINC-1 level, 79% increase in leptin level and 41% decrease in adiponectin level. The leptin/adiponectin index was elevated in all study groups and reached 158% in HSD group, 138% in HFD group and was two times higher in HSFD group vs control. The rat model used in this study provides novel insight into development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Expressed pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines may indicate early changes in liver and adipose tissue functioning and leptin/adiponectin index could be a novel non-invasive marker of metabolic-related liver alteration. Healthy nutrition and stress management during prenatal period may serve as a valid strategy to prevent liver and adipose tissue inflammation/alteration and metabolic disorders in adulthood.