Zeitschrift für Ernährung und Lebensmittelwissenschaften
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Hyperhomocysteinemia and Gestational Programming of Genes Involved in Alzheimer

Vanessa Cavalcante da Silva, Eduardo Jun Haseyama, Leandro Fernandes, Maria Tereza Cartaxo Muniz and Vânia D’Almeida

Maternal hyperhomocysteinemia (hHcy) induced by a high methionine diet delays brain maturation and leads to impairment of learning performance in the offspring. Because methionine-homocysteine metabolism is related to the regulation of gene expression through one-carbon metabolism, we investigated whether maternal supplementation with methionine affects the expression of Adam10, Bace1, Bace2, Ps1, Ps2, Tace, App, Il-1ɑ, Il-1β and Tnf-α, genes related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk, in the offspring. Thirteen female mice were distributed into the following groups: a) standard diet and b) standard diet supplemented with 1% methionine in water. After birth, the offspring were organized into Control (CT) and Supplemented Diet (SD) groups, and at Postnatal Day (PND) 90, all animals were weighed and then euthanized. The homocysteine (Hcy) concentration in plasma was measured, and the whole brain was weighed and dissected, and the hippocampus used for gene expression analyses. A decrease in total body weight was found in SD group, but no differences in brain weight were observed. The maternal diet did not seem to affect the Hcy concentration of PND 90 offspring. No differences were found in the expression of AD related genes in the hippocampus (p>0.05). In conclusion, hHcy induced by methionine supplementation during pregnancy and lactation did not affect the expression of genes related to AD risk in the offspring.