Animal study suggests a paternal fish oil supplement may lower obesity risk in offspring

A research carried out in mice has uncovered a possible new software to fight the escalating concern of childhood weight problems. The analysis suggests {that a} easy dietary change, within the type of a fish oil complement taken by fathers, would possibly assist deal with this urgent well being concern.

The variety of younger individuals ages 5 to 19 who’re overweight has risen from 31 million in 1990 to 160 million in 2022, based on the World Well being Group. This additional weight can improve the danger of diabetes, hypertension and excessive ldl cholesterol and may result in poor shallowness and melancholy.

To search out out whether or not paternal eating regimen may affect offspring well being, researchers gave male mice a high-fat eating regimen with or with out added fish oil. They discovered that the offspring of the males that consumed fish oil had a decrease physique weight and confirmed higher metabolic well being than the offspring of fathers not supplemented with fish oil.

“Whereas additional human research are wanted, this discovery opens a brand new frontier in our understanding of how mother and father, past simply genetics, affect their offspring’s well-being,” mentioned Latha Ramalingam, Ph.D., assistant professor in vitamin at Syracuse College. “Fish oil, a available and secure complement, may turn out to be a robust weapon in our struggle for a more healthy subsequent technology.”

Sarah Dellet, a graduate scholar in Ramalingam’s lab, presents the findings at NUTRITION 2024, the flagship annual assembly of the American Society for Vitamin held June 29–July 2 in Chicago.

The researchers say that is the primary research to look at inheritance patterns solely within the paternal line. It builds on their earlier work, which demonstrated the advantages of fish oil supplementation in moms for decreasing childhood weight problems threat.

Within the new research, which concerned nearly 150 mice, the researchers fed male mice a high-fat eating regimen both with or with out added fish oil. They have been then mated with feminine mice that consumed a daily wholesome low-fat eating regimen.

The researchers discovered that offspring that have been fed a low-fat nutritious diet and fathered by males receiving fish oil weighed much less at seven and 21 days than offspring of the males not receiving fish oil. Feminine offspring from males receiving fish oil additionally had improved metabolic well being as measured by glucose clearance and insulin sensitivity.

“This idea gives a major potential to reshape our methods in combating childhood weight problems,” mentioned Ramalingam. “Image a future the place pre-conception dietary steering is not solely directed at moms, but in addition entails fathers, enabling them to play a extra energetic function in selling their youngsters’s well-being proper from the beginning.”

The researchers at the moment are learning the potential mechanisms via which dietary modifications have an effect on sperm, aiming to higher perceive how this data switch influences the next technology. They’re additionally investigating muscle and liver gene expression to achieve deeper insights into the genetic basis of the improved insulin sensitivity in females.