Hepatic HMOX1 (p < 0.001), DUSP1 (p < 0.01) and ID1 (p < 0.01) gene expression were significantly elevated in the HF fetuses when compared to C-HF group (Figure 4).Exposure to a HF diet during the second half of pregnancy (C-HF) significantly increased the hepatic gene expression of HMOX1 (p < 0.01), MAFF (p < 0.01) and SOCS3 (p < 0.01) when compared to C and HF-C groups. Here, SOCS3 is linked to hydrops fetalis.