Multi‐Vitamin Supplementation during Pregnancy in Rats Alters the Development of Food Intake Regulation in the Offspring

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Multi-vitamin supplements are commonly consumed by women, especially during pregnancy. Increased vitamin intake during pregnancy may alter the expression of genes regulating metabolic systems in the offspring. Thus, we tested the effect of high multi-vitamin intake during pregnancy in rats on food intake (FI) regulation and body weight in the offspring. Two groups of pregnant Wistar rats were fed the AIN-93 diet containing either the recommended (RV) or 10X higher vitamin (HV) content by addition of the AIN vitamin mix. In male pups (n=10/group), body weight (g) and daily FI (g/day) were measured weekly from birth. Also, 1 hr FI was measured 30 min after the pups received either a glucose (5 g/kg) or water preload given by gavage in random order and on alternate days after an overnight fast. Plasma ghrelin and GLP-1 were measured at weaning and 15 wks. Compared to RV offspring, HV offspring were not different in birth weight, but were 5% lighter at weaning (P<0.05) and 6% heavier at 15 wks (P<0.01). At weaning, HV offspring had 32% higher fasting GLP-1 (P<0.01) and a 150% greater decrease in FI (P<0.01) after the glucose load compared to RV offspring. However, at 15 wks, HV offspring compared to RV offspring ate 10% more throughout the day (P<0.05), had 24% higher fasting ghrelin (P<0.01), a 29% lower GLP-1 response (P<0.01) and failed to suppress FI after the glucose preload (−3.1 ± 0.4 vs. −4.1 ± 0.5 g; P<0.05). In conclusion, HV intake during pregnancy in rats alters the development of food intake regulation in the offspring. Supported by CIHR-INMD.