Maternal smoking is associated with metabolic disorders, renal underdevelopment, and a predisposition to chronic kidney disease in offspring, yet the underlying mechanisms are unclear. By exposing female Balb/c mice to cigarette smoke for 6 wk premating and during gestation and lactation, we showed that maternal smoke exposure induced glucose intolerance, renal underdevelopment, inflammation, and albuminuria in male offspring. This was associated with increased renal oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction at birth and in adulthood. Importantly, we demonstrated that dietary supplementation of L-carnitine, an amino acid shown to increase antioxidant defenses and mitochondrial function in numerous diseases, in smoke-exposed mothers during pregnancy and lactation significantly reversed the detrimental maternal impacts on kidney pathology in these male offspring. It increased SOD2 and glutathione peroxidase 1, reduced ROS accumulation, and normalized levels of mitochondrial preprotein translocases of the outer membrane, and oxidative phosphorylation complexes I-V in the kidneys of mouse progeny after intrauterine cigarette smoke exposure. These findings support the hypothesis that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are closely linked to the adverse effects of maternal smoking on male offspring renal pathology. The results of our study suggest that L-carnitine administration in cigarette smoke-exposed mothers mitigates these deleterious renal consequences.
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