Maternal Iron Deficiency Programs Offspring Cognition and Its Relationship with Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Metabolites

Hsieh, Hsin-Yi; Chen, Yu-Chieh; Hsu, Mei-Hsin; Yu, Hong-Ren; Su, Chung-Hao; Tain, You-Lin; Huang, Li-Tung; Sheen, Jiunn-Ming

doi:10.3390/ijerph17176070

Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Edit a Special Issue

Article Menu

...

Open AccessArticle

Maternal Iron Deficiency Programs Offspring Cognition and Its Relationship with Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Metabolites

¹,

¹,

¹,

¹,

²,

^1,*,†

and

Jiunn-Ming Sheen

^1,2,*,†

Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan

Department of Pediatrics, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Chiayi 613, Taiwan

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors have contributed equally as corresponding authors.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(17), 6070; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176070

Received: 24 July 2020 / Revised: 15 August 2020 / Accepted: 18 August 2020 / Published: 20 August 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maternal and Early-Life Nutrition and Health)

View Full-Text Download PDF

Browse Figures

Citation Export

Abstract

Iron is an essential micronutrient for the brain development of the fetus. Altered intestinal microbiota might affect behavior and cognition through the so-called microbiota-gut-brain axis. We used a Sprague-Dawley rat model of a maternal low-iron diet to explore the changes in cognition, dorsal hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and related pathways, gut microbiota, and related metabolites in adult male offspring. We established maternal iron-deficient rats by feeding them a low-iron diet (2.9 mg/kg), while the control rats were fed a standard diet (52.3 mg/kg). We used a Morris water maze test to assess spatial learning and long-term memory. Western blot (WB) assays and a quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were used to detect the BDNF concentration and related signaling pathways. We collected fecal samples for microbiota profiling and measured the concentrations of plasma short-chain fatty acids. The adult male offspring of maternal rats fed low-iron diets before pregnancy, during pregnancy and throughout the lactation period had (1) spatial deficits, (2) a decreased BDNF mRNA expression and protein concentrations, accompanied by a decreased TrkB protein abundance, (3) a decreased plasma acetate concentration, and (4) an enrichment of the Bacteroidaceae genus Bacteroides and Lachnospiraceae genus Marvinbryantia. Maternal iron deficiency leads to an offspring spatial deficit and is associated with alternations in gastrointestinal microbiota and metabolites. View Full-Text

Keywords: spatial deficit; iron deficiency; microbiota; programming

▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Supplementary Material

Supplementary File 1:
PDF-Document (PDF, 222 KiB)

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Hsieh, H.-Y.; Chen, Y.-C.; Hsu, M.-H.; Yu, H.-R.; Su, C.-H.; Tain, Y.-L.; Huang, L.-T.; Sheen, J.-M. Maternal Iron Deficiency Programs Offspring Cognition and Its Relationship with Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Metabolites. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 6070. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176070

AMA Style

Hsieh H-Y, Chen Y-C, Hsu M-H, Yu H-R, Su C-H, Tain Y-L, Huang L-T, Sheen J-M. Maternal Iron Deficiency Programs Offspring Cognition and Its Relationship with Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Metabolites. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(17):6070. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176070

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hsieh, Hsin-Yi, Yu-Chieh Chen, Mei-Hsin Hsu, Hong-Ren Yu, Chung-Hao Su, You-Lin Tain, Li-Tung Huang, and Jiunn-Ming Sheen. 2020. "Maternal Iron Deficiency Programs Offspring Cognition and Its Relationship with Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Metabolites" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 17: 6070. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176070

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Maternal Iron Deficiency Programs Offspring Cognition and Its Relationship with Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Metabolites

Abstract

Supplementary Material

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI