Studies suggest that obesity could be ‘transmitted’ frommother to child. Since maternal microbiota is the main determinant of childintestine colonization, the transmission of a maternal microbiota"signature" of obesity to her child during perinatal period, couldpotentially affect his metabolism.
Study Aim
This study aims to prove that the transfer of a specific microbiota of obesemother would be responsible for the modulation of hypothalamic (HT) and brainstem neuronal circuits in the offspring and could contribute to changes inappetite regulation.
Scientific Approach
Preclinical study vertical transfer of fecal, vaginal and milk microbiotaobtained from obese prone or obese resistant dams under high-energy diet intonewborn from chow fed Fisher dams, from the day of birth to 15 days of life.Microbiota are collected at the end of the gestation and during lactationperiod from the OP and OR dams. The colonized pups are then used to demonstratethe impact of maternal obesity-associated microbiota on hypothalamic and/ordorsal ventral complex (DVC) neurodevelopment and eating behavior in offspring.
Expected Outcomes
The study’s outcomes will provide the first direct evidence that maternalmicrobes alone can program long-term eating behavior. The findings couldrevolutionize our understanding of obesity's origins and open doors to novelearly-life interventions, such as probiotic therapies, to prevent thetransmission of obesity from one generation to the next.
