Why does a high-fat diet induce preeclampsia-like symptoms in pregnant rats?

Preeclampsia is a relatively common pregnancy disorder, characterized by primary hypertension and proteinuria. In patients with severe preeclampsia, eclampsia can develop, causing nervous system symptoms and signs. In the clinic, some patients with preeclampsia suffer from eclampsia even with minimal blood pressure changes. Thus, the pathogenesis of hypertensive encephalopathy cannot fully explain the epilepsy-like attacks in eclampsia patients. We know that changes in neurotransmitter levels in the brain play an important role in epilepsy-like attacks.

A recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 20, 2013) fed pregnant rats with a high-fat diet for 20 days. Thus, these pregnant rats experienced preeclampsia-like syndromes such as hypertension and proteinuria. Simultaneously, metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 mRNA and protein expressions were upregulated in the rat hippocampus. These findings indicate that increased expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 promotes the occurrence of high-fat diet-induced preeclampsia in pregnant rats. Therefore, the control of fat intake is significant for the prevention of pregnancy-induced eclampsia.

More information:
"Why does a high-fat diet induce preeclampsia-like symptoms in pregnant rats?," by Jing Ge1, 2, Jun Wang2, Dan Xue3, Zhengsheng Zhu4, Zhenyu Chen3, Xiaoqiu Li2, Dongfeng Su5, Juan Du1(1 Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China; 2 The General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, Shenyang 110016, Liaoning Province, China; 3 Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, People's Liberation Army No. 202 Hosiptal, Shenyang 110003, Liaoning Province, China; 4 Dantu District Sanitary Supervision Institute, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Provicne, China; 5 Department of Neurology, the 463 Hospital of Chinese PLA, Shenyang 110042, Liaoning Province, China)

Ge J, Wang J, Xue D, Zhu ZS, Chen ZY, Li XQ, Su DF, Du J. Why does a high-fat diet induce preeclampsia-like symptoms in pregnant rats? Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(20):1872-1880.

Provided by Neural Regeneration Research