Scientific African (Jun 2024)
Transgenerational inheritance of insulin resistance in offspring of white rice-fed female fruit flies
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is a global pandemic that is also fast rising in Africa, including Nigeria. Chronic consumption of white rice (WR) increases the risk of developing insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Similarly, Drosophila melanogaster is a suitable model organism for studying metabolic disorders. We hypothesized that maternal WR consumption could alter offspring's metabolic health and predispose to IR. Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) eggs were laid and developed on either Control, 50 % WR and 50 % brown rice (BR); and female adults maintained on these dietary regimens for 7 days. F1 and F2 offspring of these flies were fed either a normal diet or high sugar diet (HSD). The effects of maternal WR consumption on indices related to IR and T2D such as weight, locomotor activity, glucose, trehalose, glycogen and triglyceride (TG) were assessed in the parent and offspring generations. Similarly, the mRNA expression levels of ILP2, IRS, PEPCK and ACC were investigated. We found that WR consumption induced IR in the parent as evidenced by weight gain, significant increases in glucose, trehalose and TG levels, and reduced glycogen levels. Similarly, maternal WR consumption appeared to program for elevated glucose, trehalose and TG levels in F1 offspring with significant increases in trehalose and TG levels in the F2 offspring. These metabolic perturbations were accompanied by overexpression of ILP2, IRS, PEPCK and ACC. Offspring reared on HSD exhibited worsened conditions. In contrast, the levels of these metabolic signatures in the BR groups were comparable with the control. Taken together, our study demonstrates the potential of WR but not BR to program for transgenerational inheritance of IR-T2D-like phenotypes. This suggests that offspring of chronic WR consumers may be at risk of developing IR, affecting the development and health of future generations.
