Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suman Sharma

Date

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Health Studies

Committee Chair

Marie Van Der Merwe

Committee Member

Marie Van Der Merwe

Committee Member

Keith Martin

Committee Member

Melissa Puppa

Abstract

Consumption of high fat diet and obesity have been shown to increase risk of intestinal inflammation. Interestingly, early life exposure to a high fat diet (HFD), during gestation and lactation, also increases the risk of these inflammatory gut conditions in the offspring even in adulthood. Therefore, we hypothesized that using a rationally designed diet containing high amounts of fermentable fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, components that are known to improve gut inflammation, and providing this diet at weaning will improve inflammatory conditions later in life. Healthy (8 male and 8 female) C57BL/6 mice were used. 6 pairs were given HF diet and 2 pairs were given Daniel Fast Diet and paired for breeding. The pups born were weaned at 3 weeks and given different diets (High fat, Low Fat and Daniel Fast) and we evaluated the effect of pre and postnatal diet exposure on gut morphology, function and inflammation on these pups. The results demonstrated that postnatal diet appeared to be the driver for metabolic functions like weight gain, adipose weight, and liver weight while the small intestinal length appeared to be determined by prenatal diet exposure. Interestingly, the low-fat postnatal diet resulted in similar villi and crypt length as the High fat diet, suggesting that it is the content of the Daniel fast diet that is altering the villi and crypt. Furthermore, early induction of Dextran Sodium Sulphate colitis showed no difference between the groups. The amount of Foxp3 cells showed a consistent reduction in fraction of CD4+ T cells in both the spleen and MLN in low fat offspring.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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