Efeitos da suplementação com Chlorella vulgaris sobre a obesidade materna e o desenvolvimento da prole adulta alimentada com dieta hiperglicídica

Abstract

Maternal obesity has shown an increase in prevalence rates in recent decades, especially due to lifestyle changes, such as a sedentary lifestyle and hypercaloric diets. It is associated with adverse maternal-fetal outcomes and can impact the development of offspring in adult life, predisposing to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Feeding style in the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and lactary period can result in metabolic effects in both mother and offspring. In recent years, the use of nutraceuticals in the context of obesity has increased, so Chlorella vulgaris (CV) an algae that contains several nutrients and biologically active compounds, with known antioxidant and anti inflammatory effects, may become a useful option supporting prevention and treatment of obesity, including maternal. Thereby, the present study aims to evaluate the effects of CV supplementation in pregnant-lactary female mice on body, metabolic and molecular parameters of maternal and adult offspring fed with a high-glycemic diet. The study was divided into two cohorts, the first being carried out with 24 female mice randomized into three groups: i) control group (ST), ii) group fed with a hyperglycemic diet (HGD) and iii) group supplemented with CV (HGD+CV ) in the pregnancy-lactary period. The second cohort comprised the follow-up of offspring from the animals of the first cohort. Four groups of male animals (n=8/group) were constituted, being ST/ST, ST/HGD, HGD/HGD and CV/HGD. Body, biochemical and histological parameters were measured. The results indicate that, in mothers, CV was able to decrease ovarian adipose tissue weight compared to the HGD group, however, without reducing weight and body adiposity. Regarding the glycemic profile, CV improved glucose tolerance and decreased fasting glucose levels. For the lipid profile, differences were observed for total cholesterol levels between the ST group vs. HGD; for triglycerides, between ST vs. HGD and ST vs. CV and for LDL-c levels, statistical differences were found between ST vs. HGD and HGD vs. CV. Fetal parameters indicated lower birth weight and length in animals from mothers supplemented with CV. The offspring's body composition analysis results showed lower body weight, epididymal adipose tissue and visceral adiposity in the CV/HGD group. These findings were reinforced by the smaller size of white adipocytes. For the glycemic profile of the offspring, no benefits were observed with CV supplementation. Regarding the lipid profile, statistically significant differences were observed between CV/HGD and the ST/HGD and HGD/HGD groups for total cholesterol levels. For triglyceride levels, differences were observed between the ST/ST group and the others fed with a HGD diet, while for LDL-c differences were found between ST/ST vs. ST/HGD and ST/HGD vs. CV/HGD. Altogether, these findings suggest that CV supplementation in the pregnancy-lactary period promotes metabolic benefits to mothers and favors the metabolic phenotype of the offspring, even when submitted to an obesogenic environment.