Combination of prenatal androgenization and high-fat diet on sexual development and adult reproductive function of female mice.

TORRES PJ; MALDONADO R; RAMÍREZ ND; PÉREZ PA; LUQUE EM; CANTARELLI V; PONZIO MF; GUTIÉRREZ S; MARTINI AC

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2023

SAIC, AACYTAL, ETC

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is frequently associated with female subfertility. Injecting dihydrotestosterone (DHT) into pregnant dams leads to a PCOS-like phenotype in the female offspring. This study aims to evaluate whether coadministration of a high-fat diet (HFD) to the pups exacerbates the effects of prenatal androgenization and modifies plasma and ovarian Ghrelin (Ghrl) levels/expression.Pups received either a control diet (CD) or a HFD (commercial pellet + 30% pork fat) from weaning. We evaluated the impact of four treatments (DHT-CD; C-CD; DHT-HFD; and C-HFD) on sexual development, adult reproductive function, and plasma/ovarian Ghrl levels/expression (measured by western blot). Statistics: ANOVA (two-way or repeated measures); n=2-8 litters/treatment.No significant differences were found in pups' weight gain. DHT delayed or even inhibited vaginal opening, with this effect being exacerbated by the HFD (% vaginal opening on postnatal day 39: DHT-HFDa=25.0, DHT-CDbc=64.3, C-HFDb=100, C-CDbd=100; p