Effect of different combination of maternal and postnatal diet on adipose tissue morphology in male rat offspring.

PURPOSE: Adipose tissue expansion can occur through several different ways and, under certain conditions, can be connected with chronic inflammation. TNF-α is one of the important cytokines involved in this process. Prolonged inflammation in obesity can lead to obesity-related insulin resistance and tissue dysfunction. The aim of our study was to investigate how different combination of maternal and postnatal diet affects offspring adipose tissue morphology and adipose tissue TNF-α expression. METHODS: Ten female Sprague Dawley rats, 9 weeks old, were randomly divided into two groups and fed either standard laboratory chow or food rich in saturated fatty acids during 6 weeks and then mated with the same male rat. After birth and lactation male rat offspring from both groups were divided into four subgroups depending on the diet they were fed until 22 weeks old. Samples of white adipose tissue were taken from the subcutaneous, epididymal, and perirenal fat pad. On tissue sections, histomorphometric analysis was conducted using CellProfiler program v 2.1.1, and immunohistochemical staining for TNF-α was performed. RESULTS: Greater mean surface area of subcutaneous and epididymal adipocytes was found in groups of male rat offspring with altered diet. In perirenal adipose tissue, the highest number of adipocytes was measured in the group where both mother and offspring were fed a high-fat diet. Adipocyte staining intensity for TNF-α did not differ significantly between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Together with our previously published data, our results lead to the conclusion that alteration of postnatal diet can lead to TNF-α and adipocyte morphology changes.

Different combinations of maternal and postnatal diet are reflected in changes of hepatic parenchyma and hepatic TNF-alpha expression in male rat offspring.

Obesity is related to increased TNF-alpha production in different tissues. TNF-alpha is connected to mitochondrial dysfunction in the liver and also development of fatty infiltration of the liver. Also, postnatal change from normal to high-fat diet causes a significant increase in TNF-alpha serum levels. The aim of this research was to determine how maternal diet and switching male offspring to a different dietary regime after lactation influences rat liver. Ten female Sprague Dawley rats at nine weeks of age were randomly divided in two groups and fed either standard laboratory chow or high-fat diet during six weeks, and then mated with the same male subject. After birth and lactation male offspring from both groups were further divided into four subgroups depending on their subsequent diet. At 22 weeks of age, the animals were weighted, sacrificed and major organs were collected and weighted. Immunohistochemistry for TNF-alpha was performed on liver, and liver samples were analyzed for pathohistological changes. The group in which mothers were fed standard chow and offspring high-fat diet had the most pronounced changes: heaviest liver, poorest histopathological findings and strongest TNF-alpha immunohistochemical staining of liver parenchyma. High-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation and switching to high-fat diet postnatally affects liver weight, histological structure and TNF-alpha expression in male offspring.

High-fat diet induced changes in lumbar vertebra of the male rat offsprings.

In obesity, bone marrow adiposity increases and proinflammatory cytokines excretion activates RANK/RANKL/OPG system, which leads to increased bone resorption. The aim of this study was to analyze trabecular and cortical bone parameters in animals exposed to the high-fat diet in utero and after lactation. Skeletal organ of interest was the fifth lumbar vertebra, which is not exposed to biomechanical loading in rats. Further aims were to determine TNF-α and IL-6 serum concentrations, and the intensity of the TNF-α immunohistochemical staining in the bone marrow. Ten female Sprague Dawley rats, nine weeks old, were randomly divided in two groups and fed either standard laboratory chow or food rich in saturated fatty acids during five weeks, and then mated with genetically similar male subjects. After birth and lactation male offsprings from both groups were divided in four subgroups depending on the diet they were fed until twenty-two weeks of age. The highest cholesterol and triglyceride concentration were found in both groups of offsprings fed with high-fat diet. The lowest trabecular bone volume, lowest trabecular number and highest trabecular separation were found in offsprings fed with high-fat diet of mothers on standard laboratory chow. The same group of offsprings was also characterized by the highest intensity of TNF-α immunostaining in the bone marrow and the highest TNF-α serum concentration, which suggest that this proinflammatory cytokine has interfered with bone metabolism, possibly by stimulation of bone resorption, which led to inadequate trabecular bone development and bone modeling of the fifth lumbar vertebra.

Writing and drawing with both hands as indicators of hemispheric dominance.

Brain lateralization is a common term used to describe dominance of one brain hemisphere over another for a specific function. The right hand dominance in writing, controlled by the left hemisphere, is preceded by development of communicative gesticulation and followed by development of speech in the same hemisphere. We assumed that some people are not aware of their own capability of using the other hand for tasks involving fine motor sequential movements. To prove this hypothesis, the participants were asked to perform one trained task (writing) and one less-trained task (drawing) with a dominant and a non-dominant hand. The final sample was comprised of 1189 children from 14 elementary schools and 8 high schools in the Osijek area, of which 685 elementary school children were attending 1st to 4th grade and 504 high school children were attending 3rd and 4th grade. The participants were asked to write two words, draw a specific object (a vase with flowers) and fill out a questionnaire with 10 questions concerning the classification of handedness and cerebral hemisphere dominance. The self-reported cerebral lateralization assessed in the questionnaire was compared with the drawing and the writing performance. The self-reported and objectively measured hand dominance deviated in the cases of the ambidextrous who consider themselves right-handers. Given the fact that the number of ambidextrous persons was greater in elementary schools than in high schools, we concluded how training of the right hand decreases the ability of using both hands equally for either of the tested functions - writing and drawing.

Vasculometry of upper and lower extremities in correlation with development of pathologic conditions like the diabetic foot.

We assume that the vascular apparatus of the lower limb did not evolutionary adapt to leg mass and volume. The lower limb is greater in length and volume that the upper limb, and therefore the arteries should have a bigger diameter and cross-sectional area. During pathoanatomic autopsies at the Department of Pathology of University Hospital Center Osijek we have taken segments of 1 cm of length from the subclavian, femoral, radial and tibial artery. Our sample contained segments from 51 bodies, 24 female and 27 male. We have measured leg and arm length and circumference. From these data the idealized limbs volume was calculated by geometric approximations to a cone fragment. The relation between idealized leg and arm volume and arterial cross-sectional area were calculated. For statistical analysis, Student's t-test was used. At the Department of Radiology of the University Hospital Center Osijek we measured the diameter of subclavian and femoral artery in systole and diastole in 41 patients (21 female and 20 male) by Color Doppler ultrasound, and the circumference and length of upper and lower limb was measured. There is a slightly difference between the diameter and cross-sectional area of subclavian and femoral artery. Leg length was for 48.5% bigger than arm length and the difference in volume between upper and lower limb is significantly different. The foot has four to five times greater volume than the arm, and is vascularised by an arterial tree of similar diameter. This fact proves our hypothesis that the blood supply to the lower limbs compared to the mass of tissue is smaller.