Fig. 1: Maternal high-fat diet disrupts intestinal development and intestinal barrier in offspring.

A Experimental flow diagram of MCD and MHFD groups. C57BL/6 female mice were fed either a control or a high-fat diet constantly during the gestation and lactation periods as described. Pups were sacrificed after weaning at 3 weeks old. B Body weight of 3-week-old pups. n = 16 per group. C Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of colonic tissues in the 3-week-old offspring between two groups. Five random fields from ×200 images were viewed for each mouse and the depth of well-orientated crypts was measured. Scale bar = 50 µm. The crypts depth of colon in both groups was counted. n = 5 mice per group. D H&E staining of small intestinal tissues and the villus length of ileum in the 3-week-old offspring in MCD, MHFD groups. Five random fields from ×200 images were viewed for each mouse and the length of well-orientated villi was measured. n = 5 mice per group. Scale bar = 50 µm. E Intestinal proliferation was assessed by Ki-67 immunostaining of ileum tissue. The number of positively stained cells in each villus of five random fields from ×200 images was counted. n = 5 mice per group. Scale bar = 50 µm. MCD, maternal control diet. MHFD, maternal high-fat diet. All data are displayed as means ± SDs. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001.