The Benefits of Switching to a Healthy Diet on Metabolic, Cognitive and Gut Microbiome Parameters are Preserved in Adult Rat Offspring of Mothers Fed a High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet.

SCOPE: Maternal obesity increases the risk of health complications in children, highlighting the need for effective interventions. We used a rat model of maternal obesity to examine whether a diet switch intervention could reverse the adverse effects of an unhealthy postweaning diet.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Male and female offspring born to dams fed standard chow or a high-fat, high-sugar "cafeteria" (Caf) diet were weaned onto chow or Caf diets until 22 weeks of age, when Caf-fed groups were switched to chow for 5 weeks. Adiposity, gut microbiota composition and place recognition memory were assessed before and after the switch. Body weight and adiposity fell in switched groups but remained significantly higher than chow-fed controls. Nonetheless, the diet switch improved a deficit in place recognition memory observed in Caf-fed groups, increased gut microbiota species richness and altered β diversity. Modelling indicated that adiposity most strongly predicted gut microbiota composition before and after the switch.

CONCLUSION: Maternal obesity did not alter the effects of switching diet on metabolic, microbial or cognitive measures. Thus, a healthy diet intervention led to major shifts in body weight, adiposity, place recognition memory and gut microbiota composition, with beneficial effects preserved in offspring born to obese dams. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.