Effects of a Maternal Pre-pregnancy Dietary and Pharmacological Intervention on Maternal Fecundity and Offspring Health in Sprague-Dawley Rats
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Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if a combined oligofructose and sitagliptin pre-pregnancy intervention could mitigate the decreased fecundity, poor pregnancy outcomes and negative offspring health outcomes associated with maternal obesity. Obese female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to 1 of 6 groups: 1) AIN-93 (Control-Treated Obese); 2) OFS (Fibre-Treated Obese); 3) Sitagliptin (Drug-Treated Obese); 4) OFS+Sitagliptin (Combination-Treated Obese); 5) Caloric restriction (Weight-Matched to group 4), 6) High fat & sucrose (Obese Untreated). A lean reference group was also included. Pups consumed a HFS diet for 6 weeks in adulthood. Reduced blood glucose was seen in sitagliptin offspring and increased short-chain fatty acid receptor expression and Bifidobacteria seen in offspring of the combination treated dams. Despite these changes, the pre-pregnancy treatments investigated in this study did not lead to meaningful improvements in maternal fecundity, pregnancy outcomes or offspring health.