Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of high fat diet before and during pregnancy on metabolism and inflammatory and oxidative stress responses in placenta of pregnant mice. Methods Forty female C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into high fat diet group and control group. After feeding for 14 weeks, female mice in two groups mated with male mice, and pregnant mice were sacrificed on gestational day 18.5. The body weight, fasting blood glucose and insulin, serum lipid and serum inflammatory factors of pregnant mice in two groups were observed. The placenta tissues were isolated, and the levels of inflammatory and oxidative stress related factors were determined, including the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) mRNA, tumor necrosis factor factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA and interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA, content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and expression of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and phospho-NF-κB (pNF-κB). Results The body weight, fasting blood glucose and insulin, serum lipid and serum IL-6 and TNF-α in high fat diet group were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.001). The expression of NF-κB and pNF-κB, pNF-κB /NF-κB, the expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and HIF-1α mRNA and the content of MDA in placenta tissues in high fat diet group were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.001 or P<0.05). Conclusion Maternal obesity may aggravate metabolic disorders and alter placental inflammatory and oxidative stress responses, which may change the function of placental vascular endothelium and lead to the obstrical complications.

Key words: high fat diet, obesity, placenta, hypoxia, oxidative stress, inflammation response