Changes in dietary habits, including the increased consumption of processed foods, rich in trans fatty acids (TFA), have profound effects on offspring health in later life. Thus, this study aimed to assess the influence of maternal trans fat intake during pregnancy or lactation on anxiety behavior, as well as markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) of adult male offspring. Female Wistar rats were supplemented daily with soybean oil/fish oil (SO/FO) or hydrogenated vegetable fat (HVF) by oral gavage (3.0 g/kg body weight) during pregnancy or lactation. After weaning, male offspring received only standard diet. On the postnatal day 60, anxiety-like symptoms were assessed, the plasma was collected for the quantification of cytokines levels and the hippocampus removed for biochemical and molecular analysis. Our findings have evidenced that offspring from HVF-supplemented dams during pregnancy or lactation showed significantly greater levels of anxiety behavior. HVF supplementation increased plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines and these levels were higher in the lactation period. In contrast, HVF supplementation decreased plasma levels of IL-10 in relation to SO/FO in both periods. Biochemical evaluations showed higher reactive species generation, protein carbonyl levels and catalase activity in offspring from HVF-supplemented dams during lactation. In addition, offspring from HVF-supplemented dams showed decreased GR expression in both supplemented periods. Together, these data indicate that consumption of TFA in different periods of development may increase anxiety-like behavior at least in part via alterations in proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels and GR expression in limbic brain regions.

饮食习惯的改变，包括增加对富含反式脂肪酸 (TFA)的加工食品的消费，对后代的晚年健康有着深远的影响。因此，本研究旨在评估母亲在怀孕或哺乳期间摄入反式脂肪对焦虑行为的影响，以及成年男性后代的炎症、氧化应激和糖皮质激素受体 (GR) 表达的影响。女威斯塔大鼠在怀孕或哺乳期间每天通过口服管饲法（3.0 g/kg 体重）补充大豆油/鱼油 (SO/FO) 或氢化植物脂肪 (HVF)。断奶后，雄性后代只接受标准饮食。在出生后第 60 天，评估焦虑样症状，收集血浆用于细胞因子水平的量化，并取出海马进行生化和分子分析。我们的研究结果证明，在怀孕或哺乳期间补充 HVF 的母猪的后代表现出明显更高的焦虑行为。HVF 补充剂增加了促炎细胞因子的血浆水平，并且这些水平在哺乳期更高。相比之下，HVF 补充剂在两个时期都降低了与 SO/FO 相关的 IL-10 血浆水平。生化评估表明，在哺乳期间，补充 HVF 的母猪的后代具有更高的反应性物种生成、蛋白质羰基水平和过氧化氢酶活性。此外，来自补充 HVF 的水坝的后代在两个补充时期都显示出 GR 表达下降。总之，这些数据表明，在不同发育时期摄入 TFA 可能至少部分通过改变促炎和抗炎细胞因子水平以及边缘大脑区域的 GR 表达来增加焦虑样行为。