Fig. 3.

Persistent effects of maternal obesity on depressive-like behavior in young and adult offspring. In the juvenile offspring, maternal obesity increased immobility time [main effect, F_(1,102) = 5.75] (A) and reduced latency to immobility [main effect, Q_(1,102) = 4.54] (B) in the FST relative to the offspring of lean dams. Note there were no significant interactions. (C) In the adult offspring, the time spent immobile was reduced by maternal probiotic treatment [main effect, Q_(1,75) = 7.42] and was increased by maternal HFD-induced obesity [main effect, Q_(1,75) = 4.12]. (D) However, in the adults, a significant interaction [F_(1,75) = 5.06] for latency to immobility was observed, and post hoc tests revealed that the latency in HFD/vehicle was significantly shorter than for all other groups. Two-way ANOVA; data are presented as boxplots showing median, interquartile range, and min/max points. ^†P < 0.05 (indicating main effect of maternal diet); ^##P < 0.01 (indicating main effect of maternal probiotic treatment); **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 (indicating significant post hoc comparison, computed only in the case of a significant diet × probiotic treatment interaction). Int., interaction; ns, not significant. n = 26 to 29 for juvenile offspring (13 to 15 male, 13 or 14 female) and 20 or 21 for adult offspring (10 or 11 male, 9 or 10 female) per group.