High fat diet intake and its effect on female mice reproduction

VELAZQUEZ CANDELA; CARNOVALE NOELIA; MARINONI ROCÍO; HERRERO YAMILA; OUBIÑA, GONZALO; MERESMAN GABRIELA; PARBORELL FERNANDA; ABRAMOVICH DALHIA

Congreso; Reunion de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigacion Clinica; 2021

Fertility depends on a correct energy balance. Metabolic disturbances due to western diets in women of reproductive age lead to menstrual dysfunction, subfertility and pregnancy complications. However, it is not clear how high fat diets (HFD) affect reproductive function.Hypothesis: HFD causes metabolic and reproductive alterations in female mice. Metformin improves these effects.Objective: To analyze the effects of HFD and metformin on metabolism and reproductive function in female mice. Methodology: 21d.o. female C57BL/6 mice were fed with HFD or control diet for 16 weeks. One HFD group received metformin the last four weeks. Mice were weighed once a week. Serum, gonadal and visceral fat and the ovaries were extracted. Estrus cycle, glycemia and ovarian angiogenesis were evaluated. Another set of animals were mated with males. Offspring number, weight and the time until pregnancy were recorded. One-way-ANOVA was used. Results: The HFD-mice had higher body weight, glycemia, GTT, total cholesterol, visceral and gonadal adipose tissue. Metformin improved GTT and decreased adipose tissues. The estrus cycle was shorter in HFD mice and the number of cycles/14d was increased in the HFD group. However, anovulatory stages were longer in HFD mice. Metformin had no effect on estrous cycle. The days until pregnancy were higher in HFD group and metformin reversed this effect. We found no differences in the number of pups per litter or in pups? weight. However, total litter weight was lower in HFD group. Metformin improved this parameter. Ovarian periendothelial area was increased in HFD and PDGFB was decreased. Metformin decreased periendothelial area with no effect on PDGFB. Conclusion: HFD affects metabolism, ovarian function and estrous cycle. Metformin improves some of these alterations. HFD also increases the time to pregnancy and metformin reverses this delay. Changes in ovarian vasculature and PDGFB may be some of the possible causes of the observed alterations.