Hepatic glycogenolysis is determined by maternal high-calorie diet via methylation of Pygl and it is modified by oteocalcin administration in mice

Accumulating evidence indicates that an adverse perinatal environment contributes to a higher risk of metabolic disorders in the later life of the offspring. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Thus, we investigated the contribution of maternal high-calorie diet and osteocalcin to metabolic homeostasis in the offspring. Eight-week-old C57Bl/6N female mice were mated with age-matched males and allocated randomly to three groups: a normal-diet (ND) or a high-fat, high-sucrose diet group, which was administered either saline (control) or GluOC (10 ng/g body mass) from the day of mating to that of delivery, and the dams were fed a ND after the delivery. Pups weaned at 24 days after birth were analyzed. A maternal high-fat, high-sucrose diet during pregnancy causes metabolic disorders in the liver of the offspring via hypermethylation of the Pygl gene, encoding glycogen phosphorylase L, which mediates hepatic glycogenolysis. The reduced expression of Pygl induced by the maternal diet causes the hepatic accumulation of glycogen and triglyceride in the offspring, which remains in adulthood. In addition, the administration of uncarboxylated osteocalcin during pregnancy upregulates Pygl expression via both direct CREBH and ATF4 and indirect epigenomic pathways, mitigating the maternal diet-induced obesity and abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism in adulthood. We propose that maternal energy status is reflected in the hepatic glycogenolysis capacity of the offspring via epigenetic modification of Pygl and uncarboxylated osteocalcin regulates glycogenolysis. •A high-calorie diet during pregnancy causes metabolic disorders in mouse offspring.•These are mediated by low liver expression of Pygl encoding glycogen phosphorylase.•Hypermethylation of the Pygl promoter in utero suppresses subsequent gene expression.•Modification and phenotypic changes are prevented by GluOC administration during pregnancy.