| Description |
Some of the largest challenges facing the healthcare system stem from the dual epidemics of obesity and mental disorders. Obesity can alter an organism's epigenetics, and these changes may be passed on to offspring, which in turn may alter mental health. The purpose of this study is to investigate the transgenerational epigenetic effects of paternal high-fat (obesogenic) diet on offspring behavior in mice. Offspring were subject to three possible factors: 1) paternal exposure to high-fat diet as an adult, 2) paternal exposure to high-fat diet as a fetus, and 3) a mutation in the Cacna1c gene (meant as a model for mental disorder risk). These mice were exposed to a naturalistic foraging assay and their movement was tracked. Their behavior was analyzed using a series of machine learning techniques to determine the effects of the epigenetic factors. Machine learning analysis revealed a multitude of effects from each factor on both broad and granular levels of behavior. Using the behavioral profiles, we created for each group of mice we built predictive models that were significantly better than chance at predicting epigenetic factors based solely on behavior. Our results indicate that a paternal high-fat diet does in fact produce deviations in offspring behavior when compared to controls, and the resulting behavioral effects are influenced by diet exposure timing and Cacna1c mutation. These results show the power of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in shaping complex phenotypes and provide grounds for studying how modern dietary shifts may be affecting child behavior in humans. |
