Treatment of obese rats with vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a type of weight loss surgery, led to weight loss, better glucose control, and improvements in reproductive health, but it had no positive effect on the metabolic health of offspring conceived after the surgery, report researchers at the University of Cincinnati (Grayson BE et al. Sci Transl Med. 2013;5[199]:199ra112).
In some ways, the treatment may have had negative effects on offspring health, with links to lower birth weights. Such offspring also had a greater propensity to gain body fat and develop glucose intolerance when they were maintained on a high-fat diet after puberty. The investigators speculate that the hormonal changes induced by the surgery that aid in weight loss may also play a role in reduced offspring growth.