GC-MS Used to Determine Effects of High Fat Diet During Pregnancy

Researchers from the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (Beaverton, Oregon) used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry based metabolomics to analyze blood from mothers and offspring of animals fed a high fat diet. They found that a high fat diet during pregnancy results in offspring with fatty livers and causes changes in the small molecules that govern metabolism, including fatty acids and amino acids most likely to affect energy use and fat storage. The study was led by a research group at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas). In their study, they compared three groups: mothers fed a 13% fat control diet and their offspring, mothers fed a 35% fat diet and their offspring, and mothers who were obese but on a control diet during pregnancy and their offspring. The metabolomic footprint included more than 1300 chromatographic features.