Paternal Obesity Induced by High-Fat Diet Impairs the Metabolic and Reproductive Health of Progeny in Rats.

Due to the increased incidence of obesity, it is of great importance to identify all the possible consequences in those who suffer from it and their descendants. This study aimed to investigate how paternal obesity, resulting from an 18-week high-fat diet (HFD), affects the metabolic and reproductive health of offspring. In the fathers (F0 generation), the HFD led to significant weight gain, primarily due to increased visceral fat.

High-fat diet impairs glucose homeostasis by increased p16 beta-cell expression and alters glucose homeostasis of the progeny in a parental-sex dependent manner.

Introduction: Obesity consists in the accumulation of adipose tissue accompanied by low grade chronic inflammation and is considered a pandemic disease. Recent studies have observed that obesity affects females and males in a sex-dependent manner. In addition, several works have demonstrated that parental obesity increases the risk to develop obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and reproductive disorders.