Effect of maternal diet on offspring coping styles in rodents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Anne A BessonMalgorzata LagiszAlistair M SeniorKatie L HectorShinichi NakagawaPublished in: Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (2015)
Maternal nutrition can have long-term effects on offspring morphology, physiology and behaviours. However, it is unclear whether mothers 'program' offspring behavioural coping strategy (proactive/reactive) according to the predicted nutritional quality of their future environment. We conducted a systematic review on this topic and meta-analytically synthesized relevant experimental data on mice and rats (46 studies). We included data from experiments where dams were subjected to caloric restriction, protein restriction or overfeeding around gestation and subsequently measured offspring activity, exploration, or anxiety. Overall, little evidence existed for effects of maternal nutrition on the three investigated behavioural traits. The high heterogeneity observed in the data set suggests that maternal programming may sometimes occur. However, because offspring had access to a balanced diet before testing, behaviours may have been reprogrammed. Our results may indicate that reprogrammed behaviours could ameliorate negative effects associated with sub-optimal nutrition in early life. Further, our systematic review revealed clear knowledge gaps and fruitful future research avenues.
Keyphrases
- high fat diet
- physical activity
- systematic review
- birth weight
- early life
- pregnancy outcomes
- electronic health record
- big data
- healthcare
- single cell
- depressive symptoms
- quality improvement
- preterm infants
- metabolic syndrome
- pregnant women
- skeletal muscle
- high resolution
- gene expression
- body mass index
- preterm birth
- genome wide
- sleep quality
- artificial intelligence
- protein protein
- deep learning