Paternal over- and under-nutrition program fetal and placental development in a sex-specific manner in mice
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eLife Assessment
This important study demonstrates that paternal diet influences not only testicular morphology but also placental and fetal development, supporting a role for paternal contributions to offspring health. The authors combine transcriptomic and histological analyses across multiple tissues, and the evidence supporting the central conclusions is convincing. While aspects of the paternal gut phenotype remain largely descriptive, and the paternal and fetoplacental findings are discussed separately, clearer integration of these elements and additional methodological clarification would strengthen interpretation.
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Abstract
The association between sub-optimal paternal diet and offspring well-being is becoming established. However, the underlying mechanisms are yet to be fully defined. The aim of this study was to establish the impact of over- and under-nutrition, with or without macronutrient supplementation, on male reproductive fitness and post-fertilisation development. Male C57/BL6J mice were fed either control diet (CD), isocaloric low protein diet (LPD), high fat/sugar ‘Western’ diet (WD) or LPD or WD supplemented with methyl-donors and carriers (MD-LPD or MD-WD respectively) for 8 weeks before mating with virgin C57/BL6J females. Placental tissue was collected at embryonic day (E)8.5, to assess early placental (ectoplacental cone) morphology and metabolism and E17.5 for sex-specific transcriptomic profiling. Post-mating, stud male tissues were harvested for assessment of testicular morphology and gene expression, gut microbiota composition and metabolic status. WD and MD-WD males displayed increased adiposity, hepatic cholesterol and free fatty acids and gut microbiota dysbiosis when compared to CD fed males. In the testes, WD and MD-WD perturbed the expression of genes associated with metabolism, Wnt signalling and transcription regulation. Despite no impact on fundamental male fertility, significant changes in ectoplacental cone metabolism, fetal growth, and placental gene expression were observed in response to specific dietary regimens. Interestingly, while CD male and female placentas displayed 301 genome-wide, sexually-dimorphic genes, LPD, MD-LPD, WD and MD-WD male and female placentas possessed only 13, 0, 14 and 15 sexually-dimorphic genes respectively. Our data show that while sub-optimal paternal diet has minimal impact on male fertility, fetal and placental development are perturbed in a sex-specific manner.
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eLife Assessment
This important study demonstrates that paternal diet influences not only testicular morphology but also placental and fetal development, supporting a role for paternal contributions to offspring health. The authors combine transcriptomic and histological analyses across multiple tissues, and the evidence supporting the central conclusions is convincing. While aspects of the paternal gut phenotype remain largely descriptive, and the paternal and fetoplacental findings are discussed separately, clearer integration of these elements and additional methodological clarification would strengthen interpretation.
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Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Morgan et al. studied how paternal dietary alteration influenced testicular phenotype, placental and fetal growth using a mouse model of paternal low protein diet (LPD) or Western Diet (WD) feeding, with or without supplementation of methyl-donors and carriers (MD). They found diet- and sex-specific effects of paternal diet alteration. All experimental diets decreased paternal body weight and the number of spermatogonial stem cells, while fertility was unaffected. WD males (irrespective of MD) showed signs of adiposity and metabolic dysfunction, abnormal seminiferous tubules, and dysregulation of testicular genes related to chromatin homeostasis. Conversely, LPD induced abnormalities in the early placental cone, fetal growth restriction, and placental insufficiency, which were partly ameliorated by …
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Morgan et al. studied how paternal dietary alteration influenced testicular phenotype, placental and fetal growth using a mouse model of paternal low protein diet (LPD) or Western Diet (WD) feeding, with or without supplementation of methyl-donors and carriers (MD). They found diet- and sex-specific effects of paternal diet alteration. All experimental diets decreased paternal body weight and the number of spermatogonial stem cells, while fertility was unaffected. WD males (irrespective of MD) showed signs of adiposity and metabolic dysfunction, abnormal seminiferous tubules, and dysregulation of testicular genes related to chromatin homeostasis. Conversely, LPD induced abnormalities in the early placental cone, fetal growth restriction, and placental insufficiency, which were partly ameliorated by MD. The paternal diets changed the placental transcriptome in a sex-specific manner and led to a loss of sexual dimorphism in the placental transcriptome. These data provide a novel insight into how paternal health can affect the outcome of pregnancies, which is often overlooked in prenatal care.
Strengths:
The authors have performed a well-designed study using commonly used mouse models of paternal underfeeding (low protein) and overfeeding (Western diet). They performed comprehensive phenotyping at multiple timepoints, including the fathers, the early placenta, and the late gestation feto-placental unit. The inclusion of both testicular and placental morphological and transcriptomic analysis is a powerful, non-biased tool for such exploratory observational studies. The authors describe changes in testicular gene expression revolving around histone (methylation) pathways that are linked to altered offspring development (H3.3 and H3K4), which is in line with hypothesised paternal contributions to offspring health. The authors report sex differences in control placentas that mimic those in humans, providing potential for translatability of the findings. The exploration of sexual dimorphism (often overlooked) and its absence in response to dietary modification is novel and contributes to the evidence-base for the inclusion of both sexes in developmental studies.
Weaknesses:
The data are overall consistent with the conclusions of the authors. The paternal and pregnancy data are discussed separately, instead of linking the paternal phenotype to offspring outcomes. Some clarifications regarding the methods and the model would improve the interpretation of the findings.
(1) The authors insufficiently discuss their rationale for studying methyl-donors and carriers as micronutrient supplementation in their mouse model. The impact of the findings would be better disseminated if their role were explained in more detail.
(2) It is unclear from the methods exactly how long the male mice were kept on their respective diets at the time of mating and culling. Male mice were kept on the diet between 8 and 24 weeks before mating, which is a large window in which the males undergo a considerable change in body weight (Figure 1A). If males were mated at 8 weeks but phenotyped at 24 weeks, or if there were differences between groups, this complicates the interpretation of the findings and the extrapolation of the paternal phenotype to changes seen in the fetoplacental unit. The same applies to paternal age, which is an important known factor affecting male fertility and offspring outcomes.
(3) The male mice exhibited lower body weights when fed experimental diets compared to the control diet, even when placed on the hypercaloric Western Diet. As paternal body weight is an important contributor to offspring health, this is an important confounder that needs to be addressed. This may also have translational implications; in humans, consumption of a Western-style diet is often associated with weight gain. The cause of the weight discrepancy is also unaddressed. It is mentioned that the isocaloric LPD was fed ad libitum, while it is unclear whether the WD was also fed ad libitum, or whether males under- or over-ate on each experimental diet.
(4) The description and presentation of certain statistical analyses could be improved.
(i) It is unclear what statistical analysis has been performed on the time-course data in Figure 1A (if any). If one-way ANOVA was performed at each timepoint (as the methods and legend suggest), this is an inaccurate method to analyse time-course data.
(ii) It is unclear what methods were used to test the relative abundance of microbiome species at the family level (Figure 2L), whether correction was applied for multiple testing, and what the stars represent in the figure. 3) Mentioning whether siblings were used in any analyses would improve transparency, and if so, whether statistical correction needed to be applied to control for confounding by the father.
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Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
The authors investigated the effects of a low-protein diet (LPD) and a high sugar- and fat-rich diet (Western diet, WD) on paternal metabolic and reproductive parameters and feto-placental development and gene expression. They did not observe significant effects on fertility; however, they reported gut microbiota dysbiosis, alterations in testicular morphology, and severe detrimental effects on spermatogenesis. In addition, they examined whether the adverse effects of these diets could be prevented by supplementation with methyl donors. Although LPD and WD showed limited negative effects on paternal reproductive health (with no impairment of reproductive success), the consequences on fetal and placental development were evident and, as reported in many previous studies, were sex-dependent.
Strengths:
Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
The authors investigated the effects of a low-protein diet (LPD) and a high sugar- and fat-rich diet (Western diet, WD) on paternal metabolic and reproductive parameters and feto-placental development and gene expression. They did not observe significant effects on fertility; however, they reported gut microbiota dysbiosis, alterations in testicular morphology, and severe detrimental effects on spermatogenesis. In addition, they examined whether the adverse effects of these diets could be prevented by supplementation with methyl donors. Although LPD and WD showed limited negative effects on paternal reproductive health (with no impairment of reproductive success), the consequences on fetal and placental development were evident and, as reported in many previous studies, were sex-dependent.
Strengths:
This study is of high quality and addresses a research question of great global relevance, particularly in light of the growing concern regarding the exponential increase in metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes, worldwide. The work highlights the importance of a balanced paternal diet in regulating the expression of metabolic genes in the offspring at both fetal and placental levels. The identification of genes involved in metabolic pathways that may influence offspring health after birth is highly valuable, strengthening the manuscript and emphasizing the need to further investigate long-term outcomes in adult offspring.
The histological analyses performed on paternal testes clearly demonstrate diet-induced damage. Moreover, although placental morphometric analyses and detailed histological assessments of the different placental zones did not reveal significant differences between groups, their inclusion is important. These results indicate that even in the absence of overt placental phenotypic changes, placental function may still be altered, with potential consequences for fetal programming.
Weaknesses:
Overall, this manuscript presents a rich and comprehensive dataset; however, this has resulted in the analysis of paternal gut dysbiosis remaining largely descriptive. While still valuable, this raises questions regarding why supplementation with methyl donors was unable to restore gut microbial balance in animals receiving the modified diets.
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Author response:
Public Reviews:
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Morgan et al. studied how paternal dietary alteration influenced testicular phenotype, placental and fetal growth using a mouse model of paternal low protein diet (LPD) or Western Diet (WD) feeding, with or without supplementation of methyl-donors and carriers (MD). They found diet- and sex-specific effects of paternal diet alteration. All experimental diets decreased paternal body weight and the number of spermatogonial stem cells, while fertility was unaffected. WD males (irrespective of MD) showed signs of adiposity and metabolic dysfunction, abnormal seminiferous tubules, and dysregulation of testicular genes related to chromatin homeostasis. Conversely, LPD induced abnormalities in the early placental cone, fetal growth restriction, and placental insufficiency, …
Author response:
Public Reviews:
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Morgan et al. studied how paternal dietary alteration influenced testicular phenotype, placental and fetal growth using a mouse model of paternal low protein diet (LPD) or Western Diet (WD) feeding, with or without supplementation of methyl-donors and carriers (MD). They found diet- and sex-specific effects of paternal diet alteration. All experimental diets decreased paternal body weight and the number of spermatogonial stem cells, while fertility was unaffected. WD males (irrespective of MD) showed signs of adiposity and metabolic dysfunction, abnormal seminiferous tubules, and dysregulation of testicular genes related to chromatin homeostasis. Conversely, LPD induced abnormalities in the early placental cone, fetal growth restriction, and placental insufficiency, which were partly ameliorated by MD. The paternal diets changed the placental transcriptome in a sex-specific manner and led to a loss of sexual dimorphism in the placental transcriptome. These data provide a novel insight into how paternal health can affect the outcome of pregnancies, which is often overlooked in prenatal care.
Strengths:
The authors have performed a well-designed study using commonly used mouse models of paternal underfeeding (low protein) and overfeeding (Western diet). They performed comprehensive phenotyping at multiple timepoints, including the fathers, the early placenta, and the late gestation feto-placental unit. The inclusion of both testicular and placental morphological and transcriptomic analysis is a powerful, non-biased tool for such exploratory observational studies. The authors describe changes in testicular gene expression revolving around histone (methylation) pathways that are linked to altered offspring development (H3.3 and H3K4), which is in line with hypothesised paternal contributions to offspring health. The authors report sex differences in control placentas that mimic those in humans, providing potential for translatability of the findings. The exploration of sexual dimorphism (often overlooked) and its absence in response to dietary modification is novel and contributes to the evidence-base for the inclusion of both sexes in developmental studies.
Weaknesses:
The data are overall consistent with the conclusions of the authors. The paternal and pregnancy data are discussed separately, instead of linking the paternal phenotype to offspring outcomes. Some clarifications regarding the methods and the model would improve the interpretation of the findings.
(1) The authors insufficiently discuss their rationale for studying methyl-donors and carriers as micronutrient supplementation in their mouse model. The impact of the findings would be better disseminated if their role were explained in more detail.
We acknowledge the Reviewer’s comments regarding the amount of detail in support of the inclusion of methyl carriers and donors within our diet. Therefore, we will revise the manuscript to include more justification, especially within the Introduction section, for their inclusion.
(2) It is unclear from the methods exactly how long the male mice were kept on their respective diets at the time of mating and culling. Male mice were kept on the diet between 8 and 24 weeks before mating, which is a large window in which the males undergo a considerable change in body weight (Figure 1A). If males were mated at 8 weeks but phenotyped at 24 weeks, or if there were differences between groups, this complicates the interpretation of the findings and the extrapolation of the paternal phenotype to changes seen in the fetoplacental unit. The same applies to paternal age, which is an important known factor affecting male fertility and offspring outcomes.
We thank the Reviewer for their comments regarding the ages of the males analysed. We will provide more detailed descriptions of the males in our manuscript. However, all male ages were balanced across all groups.
(3) The male mice exhibited lower body weights when fed experimental diets compared to the control diet, even when placed on the hypercaloric Western Diet. As paternal body weight is an important contributor to offspring health, this is an important confounder that needs to be addressed. This may also have translational implications; in humans, consumption of a Western-style diet is often associated with weight gain. The cause of the weight discrepancy is also unaddressed. It is mentioned that the isocaloric LPD was fed ad libitum, while it is unclear whether the WD was also fed ad libitum, or whether males under- or over-ate on each experimental diet.
We agree with the Reviewer that the general trend towards a lighter body weight for our experimental animals is unexpected. We can confirm that all diets were fed ad libitum. However, as males were group housed, we were unable to measure food consumption for individual males. We also observed that for males fed the high fat diets, they often shredded significant quantities of their diet, rather than eating it, so preventing accurate measurement of food intake.
We also agree with the Reviewer that body weight can be a significant confounder for many paternal and offspring parameters. However, while the experimental males did become lighter, there were no statistical differences between groups in mean body weight. As such, body weight was not included as a variable within our statistical analysis.
(4) The description and presentation of certain statistical analyses could be improved.
(i) It is unclear what statistical analysis has been performed on the time-course data in Figure 1A (if any). If one-way ANOVA was performed at each timepoint (as the methods and legend suggest), this is an inaccurate method to analyse time-course data.
(ii) It is unclear what methods were used to test the relative abundance of microbiome species at the family level (Figure 2L), whether correction was applied for multiple testing, and what the stars represent in the figure. 3) Mentioning whether siblings were used in any analyses would improve transparency, and if so, whether statistical correction needed to be applied to control for confounding by the father.
We apologize for the lack of clarity regarding the statistical analyses. Going forward, we will revise the manuscript and include a more detailed description of the different analyses, the inclusion of siblings, and the correction for multiple testing.
Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
The authors investigated the effects of a low-protein diet (LPD) and a high sugar- and fat-rich diet (Western diet, WD) on paternal metabolic and reproductive parameters and fetoplacental development and gene expression. They did not observe significant effects on fertility; however, they reported gut microbiota dysbiosis, alterations in testicular morphology, and severe detrimental effects on spermatogenesis. In addition, they examined whether the adverse effects of these diets could be prevented by supplementation with methyl donors. Although LPD and WD showed limited negative effects on paternal reproductive health (with no impairment of reproductive success), the consequences on fetal and placental development were evident and, as reported in many previous studies, were sex-dependent.
Strengths:
This study is of high quality and addresses a research question of great global relevance, particularly in light of the growing concern regarding the exponential increase in metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes, worldwide. The work highlights the importance of a balanced paternal diet in regulating the expression of metabolic genes in the offspring at both fetal and placental levels. The identification of genes involved in metabolic pathways that may influence offspring health after birth is highly valuable, strengthening the manuscript and emphasizing the need to further investigate long-term outcomes in adult offspring.
The histological analyses performed on paternal testes clearly demonstrate diet-induced damage. Moreover, although placental morphometric analyses and detailed histological assessments of the different placental zones did not reveal significant differences between groups, their inclusion is important. These results indicate that even in the absence of overt placental phenotypic changes, placental function may still be altered, with potential consequences for fetal programming.
Weaknesses:
Overall, this manuscript presents a rich and comprehensive dataset; however, this has resulted in the analysis of paternal gut dysbiosis remaining largely descriptive. While still valuable, this raises questions regarding why supplementation with methyl donors was unable to restore gut microbial balance in animals receiving the modified diets.
We thank the Reviewer for their considered thoughts on the gut dysbiosis induced in our models the minimal impact of the methyl donors and carriers. We will include additional text within the Discussion to acknowledge this. However, at this point in time, we are unsure as to why the methyl donors had minimal impact. It could be that the macronutrients (i.e. protein, fat, carbohydrates) have more of an influence on gut bacterial profiles than micronutrients. Alternatively, due to the prolonged nature of our feeding regimens, any initial influences of the methyl donors may become diluted out over time. We will amend the text to reflect these potential factors.
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