Effect of gestational diabetes on the hippocampus of offspring

加拿大近四分之一的成年人被认为极度超重，而加拿大儿童肥胖率的稳步上升意味着这一数字将继续增长。虽然肥胖可以导致广泛的健康问题，但最常见、最严重的是2型糖尿病(T2D)。随着T2D患者数量的增加，怀孕期间患有糖尿病的女性数量也将相应增加。最近十年来的研究发现，母亲的营养可以对儿童的健康产生持久的影响；例如，母亲营养不良会导致子女成年后罹患心脏病的风险增加。这项拟议的研究想要研究妊娠期糖尿病对后代发育的影响。特别是，该提案将专注于开发大脑中一个已知对创造记忆至关重要的区域--海马体。雌性大鼠的饮食将像许多人的饮食一样，脂肪含量非常高。随着时间的推移，这些动物会发展成T2D。在此之后，它们将被交配，并被允许接生和哺育它们的幼崽。利用各种技术，将不同年龄的糖尿病大鼠的后代的海马体结构和功能与喂食对照饮食的大鼠的海马体结构和功能进行比较。所有这些工作将有助于回答这个问题：如果一名妇女在怀孕期间患有糖尿病，她孩子大脑中对学习和记忆重要的区域是否会受到影响？这项拟议研究的结果不仅会引起生物学家的兴趣，而且对那些参与公共卫生和政策的人也应该是重要的。

Nearly one-quarter of adults in Canada are considered to be extremely overweight, and the steady increase in obesity among Canadian children means that this number will continue to grow. While obesity can lead to a wide range of health problems, one of the most common, and most serious, is type 2 diabetes (T2D). As the number of people with T2D increases, there will be a matching rise in the number of women with diabetes during their pregnancies. Recent work over the last ten years has found that maternal nutrition can have longlasting effects upon the health of children; for example, maternal undernutrition can lead to an increased risk of heart disease in offspring when they become adults. The proposed study would like to examine how diabetes in pregnancy affects offspring development. In particular, the proposal will focus on development of a brain region known to be important for creating memories - the hippocampus. Female rats will be placed on a diet that, like the diets of many people, is very high in fat. Over time, the animals will develop T2D. After this, they will be mated and allowed to deliver and nurse their pups. Using a variety of techniques, structure and function of the hippocampus in offspring of diabetic rats at different ages will be compared to those from rats fed a control diet. All of the work together will help to answer the question: if a woman has diabetes during her pegnancy, will the areas of her child's brain important for learning and memory be affected? The outcome of the proposed study will not only be of interest to biologists, but should also be important to those involved with public health and policy.