Early life high-fat diet exposure evokes normal weight obesity

Abstract

Obesity is becoming one of the most severe global health problems. However, risk of developing normal weight obesity, where an individual has a high percentage of body fat despite a normal body mass index, is gaining attention since such individuals also develop systemic inflammation and metabolic dysregulation. In this study, juvenile (3-week-old) and adult (8-week-old) rats were fed a high fat diet (HFD) for 9 weeks and compared them with normal chow diet (NCD) fed rats. The HFD fed adult group showed increase in energy intake, body weight (BW), total fat, visceral fat and subcutaneous fat compared with an age-matched NCD group. In addition, the percentage of muscle mass to BW in the adult HFD group was significantly lower compared with the NCD group. When HFD feeding was started from the juvenile stage, there were almost no differences in energy intake and BW between the HFD and NCD groups. However, the juvenile HFD group showed a 1.7-fold increase in total fat, visceral fat and subcutaneous fat compared with their age-matched NCD group. The percentage of muscle mass to BW was significantly lower in the juvenile HFD group compared with the NCD group. In addition, increased plasma insulin levels and decreased insulin sensitivity was observed only in juvenile HFD group, but not in adult HFD group. These results suggest that HFD feeding in growth period induces insulin resistance and normal weight obesity. Here we show a method for generating a normal weight obesity model, as well as raising the alarm for developing normal weight obesity when children are exposed to high-fat meals.

Effects of magnesium picolinate, zinc picolinate, and selenomethionine co-supplementation on reproductive hormones, and glucose and lipid metabolism-related protein expressions in male rats fed a high-fat diet

“…These results indicated that feeding an HFD causes overweight/obesity along with a greater body fat accumulation. Similar to the present work results, Maejima et al ( Maejima, Yokota, Horita, & Shimomura, 2020 ) found greater body weights and greater visceral and subcutaneous fat accumulation (30 vs 18% total body fat) in adult rats fed an HFD compared with adult rats fed a regular chow diet. Being parallel with the result of the present work, although not statistically significant, in terms of dietary mineral supplementation, supplementing 90 mg/kg zinc to the diet of mice was also shown to reduce body fat with reduced diameter and area of adipocytes ( Qi et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Feeding a high-fat diet (HFD) results in increased body weight and fat accumulation ( Maejima, Yokota, Horita, & Shimomura, 2020 ), which eventually leads to metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes ( Kebede and Attie, 2014 , Vernon et al, 2011 ). Treatment of such metabolic disorders requires altering lifestyle changes, including dietary advice and exercise.…”

Effects of Live and Pasteurized Forms of Akkermansia from the Human Gut on Obesity and Metabolic Dysregulation

“…In the present study, we compare the beneficial effects of live and pasteurized A. muciniphila against metabolic disorder and associated inflammation, as well as gutbarrier function, using HFD-fed mice as a model. Consumption of a HFD triggers the onset and development of obesity, which is manifested by an increase in body weight, total fat, visceral fat and subcutaneous fat [43], in keeping with our results. We also observed significantly higher levels of adipose tissue gene expression of the lipogenic markers, ACC, C/EBPα and SREBP-1c in the HFD group than in the normal group.…”

Towards Healthy Planet Diets—A Transdisciplinary Approach to Food Sustainability Challenges

“…Ample (pre)clinical studies point out a role for obesity in low-grade inflammation, detailed immune response, and the development of non-communicable diseases (for recent reviews see: [42,43]). Though unhealthy food consumption and overconsumption-induced obesity, even normal weight obesity, are suggested to be the major contributor to the increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases, other more complex societal factors might also be involved [44,45].…”