Negative influences High-fat diet of the father worsens the sperm

Influence on semen: Diet of the father impairs metabolism of the child
Pregnant women have always been urged to eat healthily. But obviously also the diet of the father is of great importance. Eating high in fat before conception may affect the child's metabolism. To this result came various scientific experiments.
High-fat diet of the father
Expectant mothers have always come to a healthy, balanced diet. Most women learn early on what is allowed on the diet during pregnancy. Meanwhile, however, there is a growing evidence that the father's diet - before conception - is important for the children. According to a news agency dpa, a high-fat diet of the father over the sperm can negatively affect the metabolism of his children. In the journal "Science", two research teams report that a diet high in fat or low in proteins alters the regulation of certain genes in mice. Previously, another group of scientists had already demonstrated a similar effect for humans.

The diet of the father is crucial. Picture: twindesigner
Sperm and egg - fotolia

Diet influences quality of sperm
Already years ago, American scientists reported: A high-fat diet harms sperm and could potentially lead to infertility. Other researchers were also involved in scientific work on the influence of diet on the quality or production of sperm. For example, research has found evidence that too much cola reduces sperm production and vitamins boost sperm quality. The scientists, who now report on the influence of high-fat diet of the father on the metabolism of children, gained their knowledge in experiments with animals.

More susceptible to diabetes
For example, the team led by Qi Chen from the University of Nevada, Reno, USA, fed a group of mice males for six months with 60 percent fat. In the rodents of a control group, the food contained only ten percent fat. Oocytes were fertilized with the semen of the two groups. The offspring of both fathers received the same amount of food when growing up. They reported on their findings in the journal "Science". There were no differences in weight gain. However, from the 7th week of life through special tests showed that the mice of the fat-fed fathers had impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. These two metabolic changes often occur as a precursor to diabetes. The disturbances continued to increase until the 15th week of life. After further analysis, the researchers found differences in ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the sperm of the mouse sitter groups. Among other things, the RNA transfers the information stored in the genetic material to the protein factories of the body cells, but also regulates genes. In another experiment, the scientists identified short so-called tsRNA pieces as carriers of information about the eating behavior of the father. In the case of the children of the fat-fed fathers, this information led, among other things, to the fact that genes for the metabolism of, for example, sugar and other carbohydrates were seldom read out.

Susceptibility to obesity passed on semen
Another research team, which recently presented its findings in the journal Science, came to a similar conclusion. The scientists around Oliver J. Rando from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester (USA) had fed one group of mice with 19 percent and another group with only ten percent proteins. The sperm of the mice with protein-poor food had a significantly increased proportion of the molecule tRNA-Gly-GCC, which suppresses a subset of genes. Together with others, one of these genes ensures that embryonic stem cells can develop into a wide variety of cell types.

The researchers were able to determine where this RNA change happens: in the epididymis, where the sperm are gradually maturing. The immature sperm do not show any RNA changes, but they show up in the mature sperm. This form of heredity is not a change in the genome itself, which would be a mutation. Rather, it falls into the field of epigenetics - the information is indeed inherited, but are not permanently stored in DNA genetic material, but help in the regulation of genes. A study by the University of Copenhagen on humans has recently shown that susceptibility to obesity can be passed on through semen to the next generation. As the dpa reports, the researchers around Ida Donkin also found in this case epigenetic changes in sperm. In the journal "Cell Metabolism," scientists wrote that the changes involved the regulation of genes that control brain development and appetite. (Ad)