Small RNA molecules present in sperm are induced by diet and passed from father to child during fertilization.
- According to a recent study, the father’s weight influences the weight of children and their susceptibility to metabolic diseases.
- An experiment conducted on mice fed a high-fat diet also showed an increased tendency toward metabolic diseases in the offspring.
- “Here, epigenetics serves as a molecular link between the environment and the genome.”
In a new study, scientists from Helmholtz Zentrum München (Germany) examined the impact of the father’s diet before conception on the health of children. For their work, they focused on small RNA molecules present in sperm, known as “mitochondrial tRNA fragments (tmRNAs)”. These play a key role in the inheritance of health traits by regulating gene expression. After studying data from a cohort of more than 3,000 families, the researchers found that the father’s weight influences the weight of the children and their susceptibility to metabolic diseases. This influence exists independently of other factors, such as the mother’s weight, the parents’ genetics or environmental conditions.
High-fat diet raised risk of metabolic diseases in mouse offspring
To take the analysis further, the team then conducted experiments on mice. The animals were fed a high-fat diet, meaning foods with a higher fat content than a normal diet. “This had effects on the animals’ reproductive organs, including the epididymis. The epididymis is the area of the male reproductive tract where newly formed sperm mature.” According to the results, published in the journal Naturesperm exposed to a high-fat diet in the epididymis of rodents resulted in offspring with an increased tendency to metabolic diseases.
The authors did not stop there and decided to carry out additional work in the laboratory. They created embryos by in vitro fertilization. Using sperm from mice exposed to a high-fat diet, they discovered mitochondrial tRNAs from these sperm in the first embryos. “Here, epigenetics serves as a molecular link between the environment and the genome, even across generational boundaries. This occurs not only through the maternal line but, as our research results indicate, also through the paternal line,” explained the professor Martin Hrabě de Angelisco-author of the study.
“Preventive health care for men who want to become fathers”
In their conclusions, the scientists emphasize the role of paternal health before conception. “Our findings suggest that preventive health care for men planning to become fathers should receive more attention and that programs should be developed to this effect, particularly with regard to diet. This can reduce the risk of diseases such as obesity and diabetes in children,” said Raffaele Teperino, who led the work.
