Figure 1.

Early life synbiotics prevent excessive fat accumulation under WSD challenge. A, Schematic overview of Study1. Litters were culled at postnatal day (PN) 2 and were randomly divided into 4 diet groups: Reference (REF) and Control (CTRL) groups receiving AIN‐G (standard semi‐synthetic diet appropriate for breeding) plus control component (maltodextrin); the PRE group receiving AIN‐G supplemented with prebiotics (scGOS/lcFOS in ratio 9:1); and the SYN group receiving AIN‐G, supplemented with synbiotics (scGOS/lcFOS in a ratio 9:1 + B. breve M‐16V) until PN42. At PN42, the REF group was maintained on AIN‐M (semi‐synthetic diet appropriate for maintenance) and the CTRL, PRE and SYN groups were challenged with Western‐style diet (40% energy from fat) until PN98. Body weight (B), fat mass (C) and lean body mass (D) in the REF (n = 8), CTRL (n = 7), PRE (n = 9) and SYN (n = 11) groups of mice at PN42, PN70 and PN98. Sum of fat pads (E) and plasma leptin level (F) in the REF (n = 8), CTRL (n = 7), PRE (n = 9) and SYN (n = 11) groups of mice at PN98. Data are given as mean ± SEM. In (B) to (D), repeated‐measures two‐way ANOVA, followed by Sidak's multiple comparisons test for (1) REF vs CTRL (2), PRE vs SYN and (3) CTRL vs SYN. ^&& P ≤ .01, ^&&& P ≤ .001 indicates significance for REF vs CTRL. ^†† P ≤ .01, ^††† P ≤ .001 indicate significance for PRE vs SYN. ^$ P ≤ .05, ^$$ P ≤ .01; ^$$$ P ≤ .001 indicate significance for CTRL vs SYN. In (E) and (F), one‐way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's multiple comparisons test. *P ≤ .05