Animals

The obesity model of maternal mice was established for 4 weeks and the gestation period was 3 weeks. Offspring were weaned for 17 weeks after 4 weeks of lactation. A total of 20, 4-week-old C57BL/6J female mice were obtained from the Experimental Animal Center of Jiaxing University (Jiaxing, China), where they were housed in specific pathogen free grade conditions. The temperature was kept at 24±2˚C, a relative humidity of 50±10% and 12/12 h light and dark cycle lighting was maintained. Free access to water and food was provided. The mice were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group was fed a high-fat diet [obese mother (OM) group, n=10] containing 60.0% fat, 19.4% protein, and 20.6% carbohydrates (TROPHIC Animal Feed High-Tech Co., Ltd.); the other group was fed a normal diet [chow mother (CM), n=10] containing 4% fat, 18% protein, 53% carbohydrates and 0.07% cholesterol (SHOOBREE, Synergetic Medical Bioengineering Co., Ltd.). Common male mice (A total of 10 8-week-old mice from Jiaxing University) were mated with the 2 groups of female mice (1 male:2 female) and their offspring were defined as offspring of obese mother (OM-O) and offspring of obese mother (CM-O). The offspring of the 2 groups were weaned at 4 weeks old. Subsequently, 10 male offspring from the OM-O and CM-O groups were continuously fed a high-fat diet until they were sacrificed at 17 weeks old. Briefly, a sterile transparent glass container with a gauze pad at the bottom was prepared and 2-4 ml ether (Huadong Medicine Co., Ltd.) was added to the gauze pad, the container was sealed for 10-20 sec to prevent volatilization, a mouse was added to it, the container was resealed and inhalation anesthesia was performed, since mice breathe fast and tetraplegia is thought to be a sign of successful anesthesia. After anesthesia,1 ml venous blood was collected. Subsequently, all the mice were euthanized by neck dislocation. Finally, blood and liver tissue obtained from the mice were stored at -80˚C for further analysis.