High fat diet feeding in female mice affects ovarian function

VELAZQUEZ CANDELA; CARNOVALE NOELIA; BILOTAS MARIELA; MASILLO CINTIA; MERESMAN GABRIELA; PARBORELL FERNANDA; ABRAMOVICH DALHIA

Congreso; Reunion Anual de Sociedades de Biociencia SAIC SAI SAFIS; 2020

Female fertility is highly dependent on a correct energy balance. Metabolic disturbances areincreasingly common in women of reproductive age, leading to menstrual dysfunction,subfertility and pregnancy complications.However, it is still not clear how high fat diet (HFD) affects reproductive function.Angiogenesis is a physiological process in the ovary that allows the correct folliculardevelopment. Alterations in the balance of pro and anti angiogenic factors may causeovarian pathologies.Hypothesis: HFD causes ovarian alterations that affect follicular development andovulation.Objective: To analyze the effects of a HFD on metabolism and ovarian function in femalemice.Methodology: 21 days-old female C57BL/6 mice were fed with a HFD (45Kcal% fat) or acontrol diet during 14 weeks. The animals were weighed once a week. Estrus cycle wasevaluated by vaginal cytology and glycemia was measured. After the sacrifice, serum,gonadal and visceral fat and the ovaries were extracted to measure metabolic parametersand to perform histochemical and western blot analysis. Unpaired t-test was used.Results: the animals fed with a HFD had higher body weight, glycemia, total cholesterol(Cho), HDL-Cho and LDL-Cho. Their adipocytes were hypertrophied and the animalsshowed increased gonadal and visceral adipose tissue. The estrus cycle was shorter in HFD-fed animals compared to controls. The number of cycles was increased in the HFD group.However, anovulatory stages were longer in HFD animals. In the ovary, periendothelial cellarea and cellular proliferation were increased, while the percentage of corpora lutea wasdecreased. In addition, PDGFB was decreased in the ovaries of HFD-fed animals.Conclusion: HFD feeding affects metabolism and ovarian function, leading to an alterationin the estrous cycle and a decrease in ovulation. Changes in cellular proliferation,periendothelial cell area and PDGFB may be some of the possible causes of the observedalterations.