The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of malnutrition during early postnatal life and the feeding pattern of rat offspring when adults (2 months and 1 year old). In comparison with rats normally fed during lactation, we observed that adult offspring displayed a faster process of feeding reduction when a protein-free diet was offered. In addition, we studied the concentration of insulin and leptin in the lactating pups (10 days) and when these offspring became adult after the onset of a new feeding pattern induced by the proteinfree diet. When the diet was changed at 60 days, the offspring malnourished during lactation displayed, after 3 days, a food intake reduction around 41.4 vs 14.2% of the control group. At 10 days of life, plasma leptin and insulin were higher in the malnourished pups when compared with normally fed rats (leptin: 4.6 ± 0.8 vs 2.25 ng/ml; insulin: 0.73 ± 0.12 vs 0.22 ± 0.03 ng/ml) while at 60 days they showed reduction of both hormones when compared with the control group (leptin: 1.03 ± 0.25 vs 1.43 ± 0.5 ng/ml; insulin: 0.54 ± 0.3 vs 0.61 ± 0.4 ng/ml). Despite the different food intake reductions, the malnourished and control rats displayed a similar reduction of insulin and leptin after 3 days of protein-free diet (from 60 to 63 days). The data suggest that the high concentration of insulin and leptin found at 10 days in the malnourished pups may elicit a sustained long-term and unique feeding pattern.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the association between nutritional status and gender of rat pups during the early postnatal period (lactation) induces changes in glucose homeostasis and blood pressure of the pups when becoming adults. The results indicate that undernourishment during lactation is associated with gender and affects glucose homeostasis and blood pressure of female adults. In our experiments, the blood glucose level at the end of a clamping was significantly different in the undernourished females (FU) compared with the female controls (FC) (FC: 11.2 ± 0.9 mmol/l; FU: 26.9 ± 2.1 mmol/l; p ≤0.001). On the other hand, the undernourished male (MU) group, when compared with the male control (MC) group, showed constant and similar glycemia during clamp-induced hyperglycemia, despite there being a significant reduction of plasma insulin (at the end of the clamping, MC: 595 ± 35 pmol/l and MU: 210 ± 4 pmol/l) in this group. In addition, in contrast to the control groups and the MU group, the systolic and diastolic (d) pressures at the end of the experimental period of the FU group were significantly lower than those of the FC group (FC: 15.3 ± 0.30 mm Hg and FU: 14.7 ± 0.25 mm Hg, p < 0.001; FCd: 7.7 ± 0.25 mm Hg and Fud: 6.8 ± 0.4 mm Hg, p≤0.001). Therefore, our results provide clear evidence that nutrition is associated with gender during the early postnatal period by inducing persistent changes in physiological outcomes.

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