Consequences on anthropometry and metabolism of offspring maintenance with low-protein diet since pregnancy to adult age / Consequências sobre a antropometria e o metabolismo em ratos submetidos a dieta com baixo teor de proteínas da gravidez até a idade adulta

Abstract

The pre and early post natal is a period high susceptible to environmental insults for instance nutrition. There is a high metabolic demand necessary for the multiplication and differentiation of cells for the formation of tissues and organs and unbalanced diets affect metabolism at long term. The present study aimed to analyze physiological and metabolic parameters in male offspring submitted to the low protein diet in the perinatal life followed by a normoprotein diet or kept on the same maternal low protein diet after weaning. 12 female Wistar rats were matched with male of same strainand according maternal diet forming normoproteic and low-protein groups during gestation and lactation. At weaning three groups were randomly formed: CC (control-control), LP (low-protein-low protein) and LPC (low-protein-control). Somatic growth, feed intake, organ weight, biochemical parameters, liver fat, blood cell count and glucose tolerance test were analysed. The post-weaning "nutritional recovery" diet improved body mass and longitudinal length. But, the maintenance with low protein diet post weaning caused weight and length deficiency (P<0.001). Other parameters such as food intake, murinometric measurements, fasting gliscemia, visceral fat, organ weight, OGTT and biochemical parameters observed in the LPC were similar to CC. The LP groups caused lower area under the glycemic curve, lower visceral fat, but similar blood count, tibial growth and liver fat compared to control. The parameters evaluated in offspring submitted to nutritional recovery corroborate previous study, but the maintenance of offspring with low protein diet minimizes catch-up growth, but alters metabolic response to glucose.