Maternal nutrition restriction affects carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in adult rat offspring

Abstract

Maternal food restriction in early development stages may program risks for adverse health outcomes in the adult offspring.We evaluated if the moderate caloric restriction (30%) in dams during gestation and/or lactation impairs the glucose and lipid metabolism of male adult offspring rats (16-week-old). No effect of maternal caloric restriction (CR) during gestation and lactation was observed in blood glucose and insulin levels and hepatic glycogen content of offspring. However, the area under the curve for the glucose tolerance test was greater (P= 0.044) in rats born to caloric restricted dams during gestation or lactation, that is suggestive of impaired glucose tolerance in these animals. Rats born to nutritional-restricted dams during gestation and lactation showed higher (P< 0.05)GLUT4 mRNA abundance in the epididymal adipose tissue than rats born to dams that were food-restricted only in the gestation. The CR during gestation and lactation resulted in slight but not significant reduction in the GLUT4 mRNA abundance (p=0.069) in the soleus muscle. The hepatic lipids content increased, whereas the adiposity index at 16 weeks of age decreased (P< 0.05) in rats born to dams that were nutritional-restricted during gestation and lactation. These data show that the moderate caloric restriction in gestation and lactation affects the glucose and lipid metabolism of the offspring, and may become it more susceptible to chronic diseases such as insulin resistance in later life. Research supported by FAPESP (2011/22011-9)