Maternal aerobic running during mid or late gestation improves the quality of oogenesis and folliculogenesis in the ovary of neonatal rats: An experimental study

Background: Regular maternal exercise in pregnancy enhances the physiological, metabolic, and psychological health of mother and fetus. Objective: To determine the effect of maternal aerobic running during mid or late gestation on plasma levels of estrogen and progesterone and the histological alterations in the ovary of neonatal rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one female Wistar rats were randomly divided into experimental groups to exercises during the 2nd or 3rd wk of pregnancy (n = 14) and a control group (n = 7). After birth, the neonate’s blood was obtained and the estrogen and progesterone levels were evaluated. The ovaries were then removed and used for histological investigations and apoptic assessment. Results: Higher concentrations of estrogen and progesterone were found in the neonates of the experimental groups (p = 0.001) compared to the control group. The experimental groups had a large ovarian diameter (2nd wk: p = 0.044; 3rd wk: p = 0.005) and angiogenesis (2nd wk: p = 0.003; 3rd wk: p = 0.001). In addition, significant enhancements were seen in the the experimental groups in terms of the number (2nd wk: p = 0.017; p = 0.035) and diameter (2nd wk: p = 0.046; 3rd wk: p = 0.004) of primordial follicles, as well as in the diameter of primary oocytes (2nd wk: p = 0.073; 3rd wk: p = 0.019) compared to the control group. Moreover, rats that exercised had a lower number of apoptotic primordial follicles than the control group (2nd wk: p = 0.001; 3rd wk: p = 0.001). Conclusion: It was shown that maternal aerobic running can lead to increased plasma levels of estrogen and progesterone, also improved histological characteristics of the ovary in neonatal rats. Key words: Apoptosis, Exercise, Neonatal, Oogenesis, Ovary, Rat.

Effects of maternal controlled exercise on offspring adiposity and glucose tolerance

While metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes are costly and deadly to the current population, they are also extremely detrimental to the next generation. Much of the current literature focuses on the negative impact of poor maternal choices on offspring disease, while there is little work examining maternal behaviors that may improve offspring health. Research has shown that voluntary maternal exercise in mouse models improves metabolic function in offspring. In this study, we hypothesized that controlled maternal exercise in a mouse model will effect positive change on offspring obesity and glucose homeostasis. Female mice were separated into three groups: home cage, sedentary, and exercise. The sedentary home cage group was not removed from the home cage, while the sedentary wheel group was removed from the cage and placed in an immobile wheel apparatus. The exercise group was removed from the home cage and run on the same wheel apparatus but with the motor activated at 5–10 m/min for 1 h/d prior to and during pregnancy. Offspring were subjected to oral glucose tolerance testing and body composition analysis. There was no significant difference in offspring glucose tolerance or body composition as a consequence of the maternal exercise intervention compared to the sedentary wheel group. There were no marked negative consequences of the maternal controlled exercise intervention. Further research should clarify the potential advantages of the controlled exercise model and improve experimental techniques to facilitate translation of this research to human applications.

Treadmill exercise ameliorates impairment of spatial learning memory in pups born to old and obese mother rats

Memory state of rat pups born to old and obese mother rats and the effect of a treadmill running of mother rats on the memory of rat pups were studied. The radial 8-arm maze test was performed to detect spatial learning memory, and the level of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 in the hippocampus was measured by enzymelinked immunoassay. Western blotting was performed for the expression of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer (NF-κB), nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor, alpha (IκB-α), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, and immunohistochemistry for caspase-3 was conducted. The newborn rats were classified into following groups: pups born to old mother rats, pups born to old mother rats with exercise, pups born to old and obese mother rats, and pups born to old and obese mother rats with exercise. Exercise of mother ameliorated spatial learning memory impairment, inhibited proinflammatory cytokines production, NF-κB expression, and IκB-α phosphorylation of the pups born to old and obese mother rats. Maternal exercise suppressed Bax expression, the number of caspase-3, the level of MMP-9, and enhanced Bcl-2 expression of the pups born to old and obese mother rats. When the maternal exercise was performed, the impairment of spatial learning memory in pups was ameliorated. Therefore, it can be seen that exercise during pregnancy of older and obese mothers is an important factor in fetal health management.

Measuring mitochondrial electron transfer complexes in previously frozen cardiac tissue from the offspring of sow: A model to assess exercise induced mitochondrial bioenergetics changes

Measuring the mitochondrial electron transfer complex (ETC) profile from previously frozen heart tissue samples from offspring born to an exercised sow provided descriptive data about exercise induced mitochondrial biochemical changes in heart tissue from the offspring born to the exercised sow. The hypothesis that was proposed and tested was that regular maternal exercise of a sow during pregnancy would increase the mitochondrial efficiency of offspring heart bioenergetics. This hypothesis was tested by isolating mitochondria using a mild-isolation procedure so that mitochondrial ETC, and supercomplex profiles were assessed. The procedure described here allowed for the processing of previously frozen archived heart tissues, and eliminated the necessity of fresh mitochondria preparation for the assessment of mitochondrial ETC complexes, supercomplexes, and ETC complex activity profiles. This protocol described the optimal ETC protein complex measurement in multiplexed antibody-based immunoblotting, and super complex assessment using blue-native gel electrophoresis.

Maternal Exercise Mediates Hepatic Metabolic Programming via Activation of AMPK-PGC1α Axis in the Offspring of Obese Mothers

Maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk of hepatic metabolic dysfunction for both mother and offspring and targeted interventions to address this growing metabolic disease burden are urgently needed. This study investigates whether maternal exercise (ME) could reverse the detrimental effects of hepatic metabolic dysfunction in obese dams and their offspring while focusing on the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), representing a key regulator of hepatic metabolism. In a mouse model of maternal western-style-diet (WSD)-induced obesity, we established an exercise intervention of voluntary wheel-running before and during pregnancy and analyzed its effects on hepatic energy metabolism during developmental organ programming. ME prevented WSD-induced hepatic steatosis in obese dams by alterations of key hepatic metabolic processes, including activation of hepatic ß-oxidation and inhibition of lipogenesis following increased AMPK and peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor-γ-coactivator-1α (PGC-1α)-signaling. Offspring of exercised dams exhibited a comparable hepatic metabolic signature to their mothers with increased AMPK-PGC1α-activity and beneficial changes in hepatic lipid metabolism and were protected from WSD-induced adipose tissue accumulation and hepatic steatosis in later life. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that ME provides a promising strategy to improve the metabolic health of both obese mothers and their offspring and highlights AMPK as a potential metabolic target for therapeutic interventions.