Previous studies have reported that maternal malnutrition is linked to increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Although several diabetic risk factors associated with early life environment have been identified, protective factors remain elusive. Here, we modulate the early life environment using a maternal high fiber diet to investigate whether the offspring are protected from type 2 diabetes. We examined the interplay between early life environment (maternal diet) and later life environment (offspring diet) using a longitudinal study with 671 Nile rats. We found that exposure to a high fiber maternal diet prior to weaning significantly lowers the risk of diet-induced diabetes in the offspring. Interestingly, offspring consuming a high fiber diet after weaning do not get diet-induced diabetes, even when exposed to a diabetogenic maternal diet. Here, we provide the first evidence that the protective effect of high fiber can be transmitted to the offspring through a maternal diet, which has important implications in diabetes prevention.

中文翻译：

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孕妇高纤维饮食可保护后代免受2型糖尿病的侵害

先前的研究报道，母亲营养不良与成年后患2型糖尿病的风险增加有关。尽管已发现与早期生活环境相关的几种糖尿病危险因素，但保护因素仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们使用孕妇高纤维饮食来调节早期生活环境，以调查后代是否受到2型糖尿病的保护。我们使用671只尼罗河大鼠进行了一项纵向研究，研究了早期生活环境（母体饮食）和后来生活环境（后代饮食）之间的相互作用。我们发现，在断奶前接触高纤维的母体饮食可以显着降低后代饮食引起的糖尿病风险。有趣的是，断奶后食用高纤维饮食的后代不会因饮食引起糖尿病，即使暴露于糖尿病致母源饮食中。在这里，我们提供了第一个证据，即高纤维的保护作用可以通过孕妇饮食传播给后代，这对预防糖尿病具有重要意义。