The quality of dietary lipids in the maternal diet can programme the offspring to diseases in later life. We investigated whether the maternal intake of palm oil or interesterified fat, substitutes for trans-unsaturated fatty acids (FA), induces metabolic changes in the adult offspring. During pregnancy and lactation, C57BL/6 female mice received normolipidic diets containing partially hydrogenated vegetable fat rich in trans-unsaturated fatty acids (TG), palm oil (PG), interesterified fat (IG) or soyabean oil (CG). After weaning, male offspring from all groups received the control diet until day 110. Plasma glucose and TAG and liver FA profiles were ascertained. Liver mitochondrial function was accessed with high-resolution respirometry by measuring VO2, fluorimetry for detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production and mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. The results showed that the IG offspring presented a 20 % increase in plasma glucose and both the IG and TG offspring presented a 2- and 1·9-fold increase in TAG, respectively, when compared with CG offspring. Liver MUFA and PUFA contents decreased in the TG and IG offspring when compared with CG offspring. Liver MUFA content also decreased in the PG offspring. These modifications in FA composition possibly affected liver mitochondrial function, as respiration was impaired in the TG offspring and H2O2 production was higher in the IG offspring. In addition, mitochondrial Ca2+ retention capacity was reduced by approximately 40 and 55 % in the TG and IG offspring, respectively. In conclusion, maternal consumption of trans-unsaturated and interesterified fat affected offspring health by compromising mitochondrial bioenergetics and lipid metabolism in the liver.

This study was designed to assess in situ the effects of sediment nearness on Crassostrea gigas metabolism. One year-old oysters were reared for 5 months (April-August) in plastic bags on metallic frames at 10 and 60 cm off the sediment at the beginning of April. The management of the energetic resources (storage, consumption) was estimated with respect to biochemical changes of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. In order to evaluate the effect of the sediment nearness at cellular level, the metabolic rate was evaluated by assessing pyruvate kinase (PK) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) enzyme activities and electron transport system (ETS) activity. The metabolic pathways were assessed by measuring ATP and intermediary metabolites such as alanine, succinate and aspartate. Despite similar survival and growth at the two rearing levels, the protein, lipid and carbohydrate content were significantly lower in the oysters close to the bottom. In the oysters reared at 10 cm, PK activity was also significantly reduced and a significant negative correlation between alanine content and PK activity was revealed. The sediment nearness decreased significantly the ATP content in the oyster. There was a significant relationship between ATP and aspartate in these oysters. The use of aspartate contributed to complete the metabolic pathways along with carbohydrate allowing to maintain the same biological performance as the oyster reared far from the bottom. The energy state (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and ATP contents) could suggest that the oysters close to the sediment were fed less but the metabolic enzyme activities allow to suggest an oxygen deficiency. However, the reduced PK activity, the absence of PEPCK activity stimulation and the utilization of aspartate suggest a transition stage to anaerobiosis.