Diet-induced maternal obesity alters ovarian morphology and gene expression in the adult mouse offspring

Anti-Müllerian Hormone as a marker of ovarian reserve in relation to cardio-metabolic health: A narrative review

“…The mechanism through which obesity may influence AMH levels has been suggested to take place on the level of the ovary directly. This is illustrated by an increase of apoptosis and altered gene expression in the mouse ovary after being fed a high-fat diet or exposure to increased lipids in utero [64,65]. It is thus plausible that BMI acts as a confounder in the relationship between cardiovascular risk and ovarian aging.…”

Detrimental effect of maternal and post-weaning high-fat diet on the reproductive function in the adult female offspring rat: roles of insulin-like growth factor 2 and the ovarian circadian clock

“…We also found higher plasma E 2 levels in 6-month-old progeny from HF-fed dams; the higher estradiol may cause abnormal follicular development. Given that oocytes and follicles are continuously lost to atresia, both maternal HF diet and postnatal HF diet had been reported to alter follicular development and accelerate follicle loss or atresia, involving several possible mechanisms [11, 12, 41, 42]. A previous study had reported that cafeteria diet for 60 days in rat may impair the ovulatory process and induce the presence of follicular cysts [12]; however, in the current maternal/post-weaning HF diet model, the number of cystic follicles seem similar among four groups after long-term diet modification for 6 months.…”

“…Additionally, previous studies showed that diet-induced maternal obesity or a post-weaning HF diet can cause early onset of puberty and estrous cycle abnormalities in female progeny [8–10]. However, limited data are available on the long-term effects of HF exposure during gestation, lactation, and early life, especially on ovarian follicular development and steroidal hormones [11–13]. …”

“…Diets high in fat or sugar have been shown to alter circadian clock function [25]. Circadian clocks are also present in the cells of the ovary [11, 26, 27], uterus [28], and placenta [29]. Nevertheless, the role of peripheral oscillators in the ovary or uterus remains unclear.…”

Maternal obesity is associated with ovarian inflammation and upregulation of early growth response factor 1

“…Higher adiposity leads to hormonal dysregulation, decreased primordial follicle numbers at the initiation of follicular development, lower ovulation rates, a reduced number of cleaved blastocysts developing to eight cell stage and reduced implantation rates, and ultimately impaired reproductive function (11,16,17,22,33,35,61). Similarly, in experimental models, obesity leads to decreased primordial and preovulatory follicle numbers, increased follicular atresia and changes in steroidogenesis via decreased steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, and increased Cyp11a1 protein content in ovarian tissue (7,16,23,37,38,53,61).…”