A influência da obesidade sobre o comportamento e perfil lipídico de ratas e de seus filhotes machos

Abstract

Despite the increase in the population presenting obesity, the deeper elucidation of its pathophysiology, and the current knowledge about metabolic and uterine programming, few researches has linked the obesity of mothers with possible behavioral disorders in their children. Considering the development and growth of the nervous and endocrine systems in the intrauterine and lactation phases, the purpose of this work was to be able to demonstrate that the complications of obesity are not restricted to the patient who presents it, but can also affect their descendants. Based on this information, this work aimed to describe and evaluate the behavior and lipid profile of rats born from obese mothers. The method used to cause obesity in the female rats was the cafeteria diet (DCaf), which consists of offering foods rich in calories, composed of an excess of carbohydrates and / or lipids. Twenty-three females were used, divided into two groups, one treated with chow and the other with DCaf. After their pups were weaned, the dams underwent depressive, anxious and memory assessment tests, and were then sacrificed. One male pup was separated from each female and, with approximately 111 days old, they went through the same behavioral tests from the dams, with subsequent sacrifice. All animals were weighed weekly and had blood and fat separated after sacrifice for further analysis. The behavioral tests performed were: Open Field, Elevated Cross Maze, Object Recognition, Forced Swimming and Splash Test, the last one performed only with the pups. It was observed that mothers showed obesity, increased immobility time and decreased swimming time in Forced Swimming Test, there were no changes in blood biochemical tests and other behavioral tests. The pups of obese mothers showed greater accumulation of fats per body weight, in addition to a longer immobility time and shorter swimming time at the Forced Swimming Test, apart from a longer latency time to start grooming in the Splash Test. However, the male pups showed no anxietylike behavior in the elevated plus-maze test, neither memory change in the object recognition test. It is concluded that maternal obesity can cause behavioral changes of depressive nature in the offspring. Obesity in mothers can cause an increased inflammatory state, which mediators can cause a reduction in the availability of serotonin and neurotrophic factor derived from the brain production, or activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Such mediators, or other hormones related to obesity, such as leptin, can cross the placenta and cause changes in the formation of the chicks central nervous system, interfering in their behavior as adults.