Impact of high fructose on health of offspring

In a study to be presented on Feb. 5 in the oral session at 1:15 p.m. EST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™, in Atlanta, researchers will present findings on the effects of antenatal exposure to a high fructose diet on the offspring's development of metabolic syndrome-like phenotype and cardiovascular disease later in life.

The study, titled High fructose diet in pregnancy leads to fetal programming of hypertension, insulin resistance and obesity in adult offspring, randomly allocated either a fructose solution or water as the only drinking fluid for pregnant mice from first day of pregnancy through delivery. Offspring were then started on regular chow and evaluated after one year of life. Percent of visceral adipose tissue was measured along with liver fat infiltrates using computed tomography, and blood pressure using a non-invasive monitor. Glucose tolerance testing was also performed and serum concentrations of glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, leptin and adiponectin were measured.

Maternal weight, pup number and average weight at birth were similar between the two groups. Male and female offspring born to mothers who received the fructose solution group had higher peak glucose compared with controls. Female offspring from the fructose group were heavier and had a higher percent of visceral adipose tissue, liver fat infiltrates, fasting homeostatic model assessment scores, higher serum concentrations of leptin and lower concentrations of adiponectin.

No significant differences in these parameters were noted in male offspring. Serum concentrations of triglycerides and total cholesterol were not different between the two groups or either gender.

"While this study was done in a mouse model, it is an important indicator of the effect of the mothers' diet during pregnancy on the health of their children later in life," explained Antonio Saad, M.D. with UTMB Galveston and the lead researcher of the study. "Through this study, we know that consuming high fructose during pregnancy putts the child at future risk for a variety of health conditions including obesity and the many complications it causes."

The study concluded that, while maternal intake of high fructose leads to fetal programming of adult obesity, hypertension, and metabolic dysfunction--all of which risk factors for cardiovascular disease; limiting high fructose enriched diets in pregnancy may have a significant impact on long term health.

Abstract 67 High Fructose Diet in Pregnancy Leads to Fetal Programming of Hypertension, Insulin Resistance and Obesity in Adult Offspring

Authors: Antonio Saad, Joshua Disckerson, Phyllis Gamble, Huaizhi Yin, Talar Kechichian, Ashley Salazar, Igor Patrikeev, Massoud Motamedi, George Saade, Maged Costantine

Objective: Consumption of fructose rich diets in the U.S is on the rise and thought to be associated with obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases. Our objective was to determine the effects of antenatal exposure to high fructose diet on offspring's development of metabolic syndrome-like phenotype and other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors later in life.

Study Design: Pregnant C57BL/6J dams were randomly allocated to fructose solution (FRC, 10% W/V, n=10) as only drinking fluid or water (CTR, n=10) from day 1 of pregnancy until delivery. Pups were then started on regular chow, and evaluated at 1 year of life. We measured % visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and liver fat infiltrates using computed tomography (CT), and blood pressure using CODA/ non-invasive monitor. Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance testing (IPGTT), with corresponding insulin concentrations were obtained. Serum concentrations of glucose, insulin, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), leptin, and adiponectin were measured in duplicate using standardized assays. Fasting homeostatic model assessment (HOMA- IR) was also calculated to assess insulin resistance.

Results: Maternal weight, pup number and average weight at birth were similar between the two groups. Male and female FRC offspring had higher peak glucose and area under the IPGTT curve, compared with CTR (Figures 1A&B), and higher mean arterial pressure compared to CTR (Figure 1C). Female FRC offspring were heavier and had higher % VAT (Figure 1D), liver fat infiltrates, HOMA-IR scores, insulin area under the IPGTT curve, serum concentrations of leptin, and lower concentrations of adiponectin compared to female CTR offspring (Table). No significant differences in these parameters were noted in male offspring. Serum concentrations of TG or TC were not different between the 2 groups for either gender.

Conclusion: Maternal intake of high fructose leads to fetal programming of adult obesity, hypertension and metabolic dysfunction, all risk factors for CVD. This fetal programming is more pronounced in female offspring. Limiting intake of high fructose enriched diets in pregnancy may have significant impact on long term health.