The effect of dietary lipid quality in early life on serum LysoPC(18:2) levels and their association with adult blood glucose levels in intrauterine growth restricted rats

Being born small-for-gestational-age, especially with subsequent catch-up growth, is associated with impaired metabolic health in later-life. We previously showed that a postnatal diet with an adapted lipid droplet structure can ameliorate some of the adverse metabolic consequences in intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) rats. The aim of the present work was to explore possible underlying mechanism(s) and potential biomarkers. To this end, serum metabolomics was performed in postnatal day (PN) 42 and PN96 samples of the above-mentioned rat offspring, born after uterine vasculature ligation. Blood samples were collected at PN42, directly after a postnatal dietary intervention with either complex lipid matrix (CLM) or control (CTRL) diet, and at PN96 after a subsequent western-style diet (WSD). Offspring of Non-operated (NOP) dams fed CTRL in early life were included as control group. In the PN42 metabolomics data, 11 co-abundance modules of metabolites were identified, of which four were significantly correlated to adult blood glucose levels at PN96. Further analyses showed that Lysophosphatidylcholine(18:2) (LysoPC(18:2)) levels were reduced by ligation (p < 0.01) and restored in CLM fed animals (p < 0.05). LysoPC(18:2) levels at PN42 correlated inversely with adult blood glucose levels. These data indicate that early-life LysoPC(18:2) blood levels may predict adult blood glucose levels and are affected by a postnatal diet with an adapted lipid droplet structure in IUGR offspring.