PhD ceremony Mr. S. Guidotti: The fire of life. Applications and implications

PhD ceremony: Mr. S. Guidotti, 14.30 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: The fire of life. Applications and implications

Promotor(s): prof. G. van Dijk, prof. H.A.J. Meijer

Faculty: Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Helping women maintaining a healthy diet and weight before and during pregnancy may be first line treatment to stop obesity before it starts. The model described in the thesis of Stefano Guidotti shows an interesting genes x environment interaction aiming to explain current obesity epidemics. Early dietary manipulation, such as feeding an high-energy diet rich in short chained sugar and saturated fat, has long lasting effect on metabolic profile of the offspring, ultimately leading to the loss of resistance to obesity in highly active mice. A high-energy (HE) diet increases total milk-energy output in lactating mothers, fostering growth and development in the offspring in youth, while increasing the risk to develop obesity and diabetes in adulthood.

Maternal HE diet during perinatal stage (pregnancy and lactation) enhances offspring growth and development at weaning, but can have detrimental effect on offspring metabolic profiles (increased adiposity and hyperinsulinemia) especially if re-exposed to HE-diet in adulthood. Diet-induced obesity resistance previously found in high-active mice was lost when pre-weaning and post-weaning HE-diet were combined, without alterations in voluntary activity. The presented findings help to understand underlying regulatory mechanism relevant to energy balance and fuel homeostasis, and how these could underlie obesity proneness or resistance. In humans, homologous mechanisms may explain the spread of obesity and diabetes epidemic over the last few decades.