bad diets parents can mess with genes, increasing the risk of obesity for children, diabetes- Theknitcity

A lousy diet can obviously have a lasting impact on the size, but for parents, but can also have a lasting impact on DNA and the family line, a new study suggests.

Compared with lean mice on a standard or a low-fat diet, mice genetically obese transformed into high-fat, high-calorie diet were more likely to be obese offspring at risk of developing type 2 diabetes while the researchers observed such familiar influences metabolic disorders before, the new study took cubs of additional production steps in vitro fertilization of sperm and egg cells of obese parents implanted in surrogates , thin mothers. This experimental configuration eliminates the influences of confusion mom and dad, such as chemicals in the semen, molecular signals in the uterus, and transfers microbiome of breast milk components.

The discovery, published Monday in the journal Nature Genetics, provides own su
pport to the theory that poor diet and / or parental obesity causes chemical changes epigenetic tags and other DNA molecular switches that change the way they read and translates the genetic code, instead of own code. And these changes can propagate to offspring and influence their metabolism and health.

Although the work was done in mice, the researchers believe that similar epigenetic changes may occur in humans and other mammals, which could help explain the recent global rise of obesity and diabetes type 2. In fact, the above data they found that the lean and obese men have epigenetic tags on their sperm.

For the mouse study, the researchers genetically similar mice raised for six weeks in one of three diets: standard mouse diet, a diet low in fat or high in fat, high calorie diet. The latter became obese and developed severe intolerance to glucose (a precursor of type 2 diabetes), while the other remained thin mouse.

Collecting eggs and sperm of mice in each group of diet, researchers have used IVF to specific and controlled crossings. All embryos were transferred healthy and thin for surrogacy. To see if the diet of their biological parents affects their metabolism, all puppies were challenged with a high fat, the diet rich in calories.

As expected, females with pups two obese parents had a high degree of insulin resistance and have won at least 20 percent more weight than children of parents with normal or low-fat diets. young women with one obese parent, mother or father, also gained more weight than the control groups, but only between 8 and 14 percent. The result suggests that the influence of the metabolism of each parent may be additive.

But in a confusing conclusion, small males are not the same model. Obese parents male puppies tend to be a bit heavier than the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant, the authors report. However, they also have a high degree of insulin resistance.

Examination of glucose intolerance more closely, the researchers found that the offspring (men and women) tend to have more severe intolerance to glucose if their mothers were obese. a backup of epidemiological data in humans that suggests higher maternal influence with type 2 diabetes development will take place.

If the results hold in other studies, researchers hope to find exactly what epigenetic factors are transmitted, how they develop, and the number of generations that last.