The Diet of Pregnant Mice Changes the Expression of Genes in Offspring

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discourages women who are pregnant from consuming alcohol and smoking due to a detrimental impact on the health of her child.  Further research is being published that may also discourage the consumption of certain types of foods  A recent article published in September shows that a mother’s nutrition may have an effect on her child’s genes.  Scientists at the University of North Carolina have been exploring this idea by feeding female laboratory mice different diets and examining the changes in their offspring’s DNA.

This type of research falls under the category of epigenetics.  Epigenetics involves altering the function of a gene without changing the sequence of DNA.  In this study, female mice were split into two groups before gestation.  One group of mice was fed a control diet, and the other was fed a diet lacking alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).  ALA is an Omega-3 fatty acid that is commonly found in seeds such as walnuts and pecans.  Both groups of females were mated with male mice that were fed the control diet.  The pups that were born from the divided groups of mothers were also divided in half.  One group of pups were fed a flaxseed oil supplement with high amounts of ALA, and the other group was fed a normal diet.  The scientists then analyzed the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of the offspring’s blood and liver.  The mice that were given the flaxseed supplement showed an increase in the DNA methylation (controls gene expression) of the Fads2 gene.  This gene is responsible for controlling the PUFA present in metabolism.  However, it was also found that the level of DNA methylation was also tied to the mother’s DNA methylation which was controlled by her diet.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Flaxseeds contain a high amount of ALA."][/caption]

The results of this study show that the diet of a female mouse can control the epigenetics of her offspring.  Further studies should be completed to see if these results are applicable to humans.  It may be found that a mother’s diet can have an advantageous or disadvantageous effect on her offspring.  If true, mothers should eat the best possible diet to insure the health of their offspring.