Maternal lipoic acid intake prevents metabolic changes associated with ovariectomy in the Wistar rat offspring

MARIA BELEN RABAGLINO; SANTIAGO ELIZONDO; PAULA HERNANDEZ; MARIA JOSE MOREIRA-ESPINOZA; DANTE BELTRAMO

Paris

Encuentro; 66th Society for Reproductive Investigation Annual Meeting; 2019

Introduction: Lipoic acid (LA) is an antioxidant that reaches fetal circulation after maternal oral intake (Koga et al., PLoS One 2012; 7:e40322). The antiobesogenic properties of LA are given by a modification of genes related with metabolism and energy expenditure (Kim et al., Nat Med 2004; 10:727-733). In a pilot study, we found that maternal intake of LA improved energy expenditure and decreased fat tissue in the Wistar rat offspring. Thus, we hypothesized that maternal intake of LA during the period that the appetite regulatory network is established in the fetal rat, modifies female offspring metabolism and prevents metabolic changes associated with ovariectomy during their adulthood.Methods: Pregnant Wistar rats were fed ad-libitum with standard diet (food) + LA (0.4% wt/wt) from day 14 of gestation to day 20 of lactation (n=4) or food (n=4). At 8 months of age, female offsprings born from LA fed rats (L) or controls (C) were randomly assigned to be ovariectomized (OV) or to receive a sham surgery (SH); resulting in 4 groups: LOV, LSH, COV and CSH (n=5/group). Food intake and body weight (BW) were measured weekly. Animals were euthanized after two months for samples? collection. Expressions of hepatic genes involved in sterol synthesis (Srebf1), oxidation of fatty acids (Cpt1a) and antioxidant mechanisms (Cat and Sod1) were measured through qRT-PCR and levels of blood metabolites through spectrophotometry. Results were analyzed by ttest and significance was set at p