Abstract
Our recent study showed that Japanese food typical of that consumed in 1975 had stronger caloric restriction (CR) -like effects than Japanese food typical of that consumed in 1960, 1990 and 2005. CR is useful for health maintenance, but maternal caloric restriction during gestation and lactation can have a negative impact on offspring. In this study using mice, we investigated the breast milk-mediated effects of Japanese food typical of that consumed during different periods in the past on offspring. Postnatal dams were given experimental diets including Japanese food typical of that consumed in 1960, 1975, 1990, or 2005, and the offspring were fed a high-fat diet after weaning at 3 weeks. The hepatic triacylglycerol level in the 1975 group was significantly higher in offspring and adults, whereas white adipose tissue weights in this group were lowest in all offspring. Lipid metabolism and lipolysis were also activated in white adipose tissue of offspring from dams fed the 1975 diet, whereas lipid metabolism was not activated in the liver. These results suggest that Japanese food typical of that consumed in 1975 promoted lipid accumulation in the liver and reduced the weight of white adipose tissue in infants via milk from the dam, this change persisting during and after growth.
