Maternal High-Fat Diet Induces Sex- and Estrous Cycle–Specific Glial Dysregulation in the Peripheral Offspring Retina

Description

Urbonaite and colleagues ask how a mother's high fat diet reshapes support cells in her offsprings' retinas, the light sensing tissue at the back of the eye. Their 2026 study fed female mice a diet with 60 percent fat, against a 10 percent control diet, from weaning through nursing. Offspring then ate normal food. The team stained retinal tissue to track microglia, the retina's immune cells, and Müller glia, its main support cells, in males and females.

Male offspring of high fat mothers showed a smaller microglial footprint but more signs of cleanup activity inside the cells, while females showed the reverse pattern. In control females, microglial traits rose and fell with the estrous cycle, the mouse fertility cycle, but the high fat diet flattened that rhythm. The diet also cut Müller glia signals in females, hinting at weaker glial teamwork, and slightly altered retinal structure at the edges.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13456062