Maternal olive oil intake enhances lipid metabolism and lipase activities in offspring of cafeteria diet-induced obese rats

It has long been established that maternal nutritional condition and fatty acid intake during pregnancy and/or lactation may influence the modifications in the individual risk for developing metabolic diseases throughout life, but little is known about the possible role of maternal nutrition before conception. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of maternal supplementation with olive oil on offspring lipid metabolism under obesogenic conditions. Female Wistar rats were fed control or cafeteria diet which were either supplemented or not supplemented with olive oil (5%) for 2 months before and during gestation. Pregnant rats and their offspring were also fed on similar diet. After overnight fasting, offspring were sacrificed at 1 and 3 month of life. Cafeteria diet led to higher body weight, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, LDL cholesterol, serum Lecithin–cholesterol acyltransferase activity and tissues lipoprotein lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase in offspring. In contrast, adult obese offspring had a lower HDL cholesterol. Olive oil rich-CAF diet decreased plasma lipids, increased HDL cholesterol and up-regulated lipolytic enzyme activities at weaning until adulthood. These data suggest that maternal olive oil may an effective strategy to improving metabolic alterations related to cafeteria diet in offspring.