Metabolic Response of Adult Male Offspring Rats to Prenatal Caffeine Exposure

Abstract

Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance, with recommendations from health associations and regulatory bodies for limiting caffeine consumption during pregnancy being increasingly common. Prenatal exposure to caffeine has been shown to increase the risk of developing abnormalities in lipid metabolism in adult life. We further investigated the effect of prenatal caffeine exposure (PCE) (20 mg/kg of body weight) on the metabolic "reserve" of male Sprague Dawley offspring fed on a high fructose diet in adult life. Male adult PCE offspring were assigned to four groups; Nw and Nf: offspring of control mothers (N group of mothers), having received tap water or high fructose water respectively; Cw and Cf: offspring exposed to caffeine during gestation (C group of mothers) and receiving tap water or a high fructose water solution, respectively. Cf rats presented increased serum triglyceride level, as well as raised systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels, together with extensive renal tissue oedema in adulthood, compared to the other groups (p<0.05 for all comparisons). These findings show further evidence for potential detrimental metabolic effects of prenatal caffeine exposure during adulthood in this animal model.

Keywords: blood pressure; caffeine; gestation; lipids; rat.

Figure 1. Schematic presentation of the experimental design

Figure 2. Haematoxylin/Eosin stains of renal tissues

A. Males born of control mothers which received tap water; B. Males born of control mothers, which received a high fructose water solution (200 g/l) daily instead of tap water; C. Males prenatally exposed to caffeine which received tap water; D. Males prenatally exposed to caffeine which received a high fructose water solution (200 g/l) daily instead of tap water. The arrow in Figure C indicates hydropic degeneration of tubular epithelium. The encircled area in Figure C and the whole area in Figure D present tissue with interstitial oedema.  (A, C: 100x, B, D: 50x)