Maternal dietary copper deficiency induces cardiomyopathy and liver injury in offspring

Abstract Background Maternal nutritional deficiencies contribute to birth defects and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic disease. Accumulating evidences demonstrate that copper deficiency (CuD) is involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including heart diseases and liver diseases. However, the effect of maternal CuD on offspring is not clearly explicated. Our study aims to investigate the role of maternal CuD on heart and liver of offspring. Method We established a maternal CuD mouse model by feeding pregnant C57BL/6 mice with CuD diet till the end of the experiment. Echocardiography was performed on offspring at postanal day (PND) 14. Results We found that CuD caused cardiac systolic dysfunction and cardiac hypertrophy. Moreover, CuD caused hepatic steatosis and hepatic injury. Furthermore, we presented the increased LC3 and decreased p62 in CuD mouse heart and liver tissues, suggesting the activation of autophagy. Conclusion maternal CuD caused severely adverse effects on the heart and liver of offspring, which illuminated a better understanding of CuD.