The nutritional environment during fetal and early postnatal life has a long-term impact on growth, development, and metabolic health of the offspring, a process termed "nutritional programming." Rodent models studying programming effects of nutritional interventions use either purified or grain-based rodent diets as background diets. However, the impact of these diets on phenotypic outcomes in these models has not been comprehensively investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemi-synthetic and grain-based diets are common rodent diets for biomedical research. Both diet types are considered nutritionally adequate to support breeding, growth, and long life, yet there are fundamental differences between them that may affect metabolic processes. We have characterized the effects of diet type on breeding outcomes, metabolic phenotype, and microbiota profile in adult mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo summarize current knowledge and gaps regarding the role of postprandial glycaemic response in the paediatric population, a workshop was organized in June 2021 by the European branch of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI). This virtual event comprised of talks given by experts followed by in-depth discussions in breakout sessions with workshop participants. The main pre-specified topics addressed by the workshop organizing committee to the invited speakers and the workshop participants were: (1) the role of glycaemic responses for paediatric health, based on mechanistic insights from animal and human data, and long-term evidence from observational and intervention studies in paediatric populations, and (2) changes in metabolism and changes in dietary needs from infancy to adolescence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBeing born small-for-gestational-age, especially with subsequent catch-up growth, is associated with impaired metabolic health in later-life. We previously showed that a postnatal diet with an adapted lipid droplet structure can ameliorate some of the adverse metabolic consequences in intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) rats. The aim of the present work was to explore possible underlying mechanism(s) and potential biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids
August 2019
Background: Natural killer T (NKT) cells in adipose tissue (AT) contribute to whole body energy homeostasis.
Results: Inhibition of the glucosylceramide synthesis in adipocytes impairs iNKT cell activity.
Conclusion: Glucosylceramide biosynthesis pathway is important for endogenous lipid antigen activation of iNKT cells in adipocytes.