Perinatal low-dose iron treatment influences susceptibility to diet-induced adipogenesis in early-aged male Wistar rats

The primary objective of the study was to estimate the effect of perinatal low-dose iron supplementation on diet-induced adipogenic action of a high-fat diet in the male offspring. The experimental group of pregnant dams was treated with drinking water containing 3 mg/l ferrous sulfate (FeSO4·7H2O) from the 2nd week of pregnancy till the end of lactation (the 21st day postpartum). The control group of dams obtained pure drinking water. The obtained male littermates were fed standard and high-fat diets (HFD) for 1 month. Animals’ morphometric parameters as well as serum lipoprotein profile, glucose, insulin, adipokines and cytokines concentrations were estimated. Adipose tissue oxidative stress biomarkers were also measured. It is shown that HFD-fed perinatally iron treated rats had a significantly higher adipose tissue mass in comparison with HFD-control ones. The experimental iron-treated males were also characterized by increased serum glucose and insulin concentrations. Perinatally iron treated HFD-fed animals’ leptin and proinflammatory cytokines concentrations exceeded the HFD-control values. Significant accumulation of free radical oxidation biomarkers is observed in adipose tissue samples. The lipoprotein spectra indicated initial atherogenic changes in the rats’ serum. Taken together, the study suggests that iron takes part in the developmental programming of adipogenesis.