Fig. 7: Offspring of Interleukin (IL)−6-deficient dams fed a perinatal high-fat diet (HFD) are protected from structural and functional lung changes at postnatal day 70 (P70) despite early-onset obesity and impaired glucose tolerance.

A Body weight and ratio of white adipose tissue (WAT) relative to body weight of the offspring of HFD- and standard diet (SD)-fed dams at P21 and P70. B Serum insulin and leptin concentrations at P21 using ELISA. C Offspring of HFD- and SD-fed dams were subjected to an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (ipGTT) at P21. D–F Representative images of lungs from offspring at P70. Tissues were stained for α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) to assess the bronchial SMC layer (D). Quantitative measurement of the bronchial SMC (bSMC) layer in bronchi with a diameter of <150 µm and 150–200 µm (E). Assessment of respiratory airway resistance using body plethysmography at P70 (F). G–I Representative images of lungs from offspring at P70. Tissues were co-stained for αSMA and von Willebrand factor (vWF) (G) to assess the muscularization (H) and medial wall thickness of the microvessels (I). J assessment of Nppa mRNA in the right ventricle at P70 using qRT-PCR. K, L Representative immunofluorescent images of lungs from offspring at P21. Tissues were stained for αSMA and Ki67. The Ki67-positive nuclei/total nuclei were calculated for αSMA-positive cells in bronchi (diameter: 150–250 µm diameter) (K) and in microvessels (20–100 µm) (L). Values are shown next to the respective images. M, N Representative co-immunofluorescence staining to detect αSMA (red) and FoxO1 (green) in bronchi (M) and microvessels (N); DAPI was used for nuclear staining. Quantitative assessment of the nuclear and cytoplasmatic FoxO1 fraction in % of total cell FoxO1 in αSMA-positive bronchial (M) and vascular cells (N). Data are shown as mean ± standard error of the mean. A–N SD n = 3–19, HFD n = 3–17. Data were analyzed using the two-sided Mann–Whitney test and two-way ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni post-test; *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. Gray = standard diet; white = high-fat diet; blue=IL-6^−/−. A detailed list of sample sizes and P value per graph is provided in the Supplemental Material. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.