Logo image
Back
Maternal Low-Fat and High-Fat Diet Decreases Survival and Alters Cytokine Signaling in Neonatal Mice With Staphylococcus epidermidis Sepsis
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Maternal Low-Fat and High-Fat Diet Decreases Survival and Alters Cytokine Signaling in Neonatal Mice With Staphylococcus epidermidis Sepsis

Lauren Bodilly, Sarah Weiner, Kara Misel-Wuchter and Jennifer Bermick
The FASEB journal, Vol.40(8), e71794
04/30/2026
DOI: 10.1096/fj.202502656RR
PMID: 41968928
url
https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202502656RRView
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Maternal malnutrition increases susceptibility to sepsis and mortality in neonates. The reason for this increased susceptibility remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate bacterial burden and serum cytokine levels in septic neonatal mice born to dams fed diets with different dietary fat content. 6-week-old C57BL/6 dams were placed on a low-fat (LFD) (10% kcal from fat), control (CD) (18% kcal from fat), or high-fat (HFD) (60% kcal from fat) diet for 3 weeks before breeding. Sepsis was induced in P4-P6 offspring via intraperitoneal Staphylococcus epidermidis injection. Mice were monitored for survival. At 12 h after sepsis, serum and peritoneal wash fluid were collected for bacterial count and serum cytokine levels. In the absence of infection, P4-P6 offspring had untargeted serum metabolomics performed. Septic offspring of dams fed LFD and HFD had significantly higher mortality than offspring of dams fed CD. There was no difference in serum or peritoneal wash bacterial loads. Maternal diet and S. epidermidis sepsis caused changes in basal serum cytokine levels, with HFD causing decreased cytokine elevation during sepsis. Maternal LFD and HFD altered similar metabolomic pathways in offspring. Maternal LFD and HFD decrease survival during neonatal sepsis and alter serum cytokines and the metabolome, supporting a role for maternal nutrition in neonatal immune function and infection susceptibility.
 Pregnancy Signal Transduction Animals Animals, Newborn Cytokines - blood Cytokines - metabolism Diet, Fat-Restricted - adverse effects Diet, High-Fat - adverse effects Female Male Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Sepsis - metabolism Sepsis - microbiology Sepsis - mortality Staphylococcal Infections - metabolism Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology Staphylococcal Infections - mortality Staphylococcus epidermidis

Details

Metrics

1 Record Views
Logo image