Reproduction Abstracts

Obesity in females causes altered fetal growth during pregnancy and permanently ‘programs’ the metabolism of offspring; however the origin of these changes and whether they are reversible is not known. We now show that in obese female mice the oocytes exhibit endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, high levels of intracellular lipid, reduced Ptx3 matrix production and fail to ovulate. The oocytes from obese mice contain normal levels of mtDNA but have reduced mitochondria...