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Background:

The obesity epidemic, recognized in developed nations for decades, is now a worldwide phenomenon. All age groups are affected, including women of childbearing age, fueling concern that maternal obesity before and during pregnancy and lactation impairs developmental establishment of body weight regulatory mechanisms in the fetus or infant, causing transgenerational amplification of obesity prevalence and severity. The biological mechanisms underlying such processes remain unknown.

Methods:

We used agouti viable yellow (A vy) mice to test the hypothesis that maternal obesity induces transgenerational amplification of obesity. We passed the A vy allele through three generations of A vy/a females and assessed cumulative effects on coat color and body weight. By studying two separate but contemporaneous populations of mice, one provided a standard diet and the other a methyl …