Epigenetic Changes Following Maternal Gut Microbiota Improvement With Dietary Fibre Lead To Cardio-protection In The Offspring

Abstract

Dietary fibre is fermented by the gut microbiota and protects against the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) through the production of gut microbial metabolites. We hypothesised dietary fibre intake during pregnancy may prevent the development of CVD in the offspring via in utero epigenetic mechanisms. To investigate this, we fed C57BL/6J female mice diets high or low in resistant starches (‘high-fibre’ and ‘low-fibre’, respectively) during gestation. At 6-weeks of age, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing in the offspring (n=8/group) or they were challenged with saline (sham) or angiotensin II (Ang II, 0.25mg/kg/day, n=18-23/group). Maternal diet resulted in a distinct gut micro..