Neuropeptide Y Overexpressing Female and Male Mice Show Divergent Metabolic but Not Gut Microbial Responses to Prenatal Metformin Exposure

Prenatal metformin exposure has been shown to improve the metabolic outcome in the offspring of high fat diet fed dams. However, if this is evident also in a genetic model of obesity and whether gut microbiota has a role, is not known.). Metformin was given for 18 days to the mated female mice. Body weight, body composition, glucose tolerance and serum parameters of the offspring were investigated on regular diet from weaning and sequentially on western diet (at the age of 5–7 months). Gut microbiota composition was analysed by 16S rRNA sequencing at 10–11 weeks. increased. Gut microbiota composition of the metformin exposed male offspring correlated to their metabolic phenotype.Prenatal metformin exposure caused divergent metabolic phenotypes in the female and male offspring. Nevertheless, gut microbiota of metformin exposed offspring was similarly modified in both genders