The influence of parental high-fat high-sugar diet on the gut-brain axis in male offspring

•Parental high-fat high-sugar diet can modulate offspring commensal bacteria.•Changes in gut hormones in the GBA, may be linked to hypothalamic inflammation and increased adiposity in the offspring.•Hypothalamic Leptin resistance may be involved in reduced energy expenditure and altered energy homeostasis in the adult offspring.•Parental high-fat high-sugar diet may program offspring susceptibility to metabolic diseases, later in life, even after weaning on a healthy diet.