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SummaryTo investigate the effect of dams' dietary fat type during pregnancy and lactation on fat choice of pups, three groups of dams were fed one of three diets: a low fat diet (LFD), a control diet (CTD) or a high fat diet (HFD). After weaning their pups were offered a self-selection regimen of both a fat protein diet (FPD) and a carbohydrate protein diet (CPD) for 3 wk. Although the ratio of FPD intake [FPD intake (g)/total intake (g)] by pups nursed by dams fed LFD during the self-selection period was higher than that by pups nursed by dams fed CTD and HFD, no significant difference in the ratio was observed between pups nursed by dams fed CTD and HFD. It was considered that pups nursed by dams fed CTD and HFD self-selected FPD and CPD in an adequate fat energy ratio (F ratio) compared to that of AIN-93G and AIN-93M. The ratio of FPD intake by pups of these three groups was 16-21% within the first week after weaning. Although pups nursed by dams fed CTD continued to consume the same ratio of FPD during the self-selection period, the ratio of pups nursed by dams fed LFD increased and that of pups nursed by dams fed HFD decreased. These findings indicate that: [1] pups nursed by dams fed CTD and HFD have the ability to consume FPD and CPD in an adequate F ratio, and [2] preferential fat intake of pups nursed by dams fed LFD is stronger than that of pups nursed by dams fed CTD and HFD. Key Words prenatal nutrition, dietary self-selection, fat preference, weaning pup Recently, young people in Japan prefer a Westernstyle diet, and now more than 25% of the energy consumed by young people is provided by fat ( 1 ). Specifically, animal products such as meat, fish, milk, milk products, and eggs contribute about half of the total fat in Japanese diets. Although the physiological factors contributing to fat diet selection are unknown, it is clear that greater consumption of fat is associated with higher caloric intake as well as increased body weight and adipose tissue depositions ( 2 ). The risk and incidence of obesity, type-2 diabetes, atherosclerotic vascular disease and coronary heart disease are increasing in rapid proportion to the increased intake of animal fat intake ( 3 ).Triacylglycerols are the principal lipid component of food and can enhance palatability by absorbing and retaining flavors and by influencing the texture of foods. Some empirical studies have shown that weaning pups are strongly influenced in their initial choice of diet by dietary preferences learned from adult rats. It appears that the odor or the flavor associated with a mother's diet is transmitted via her milk to nursing pups, and that these cues influence pups' initial choice of diet ( 4 -7 ). The large variations that exist in food choice, especially for fat preference, can be linked to animal strain, age, environment, genetic background or prenatal nutrition, diet history, and modifications of energy expenditure such as exercise and food deprivation (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Although dete...

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SummaryThe objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary mediumchain triglycerides (MCT) on hepatic lipid accumulation in growing rats with protein malnutrition. Weaning rats were fed either a low-protein diet (3%, LP) or control protein diet (20%, CP), in combination with or without MCT. The four groups were as follows: CP-MCT, CP ϩ MCT, LP Ϫ MCT, and LP ϩ MCT. Rats in the CP Ϫ MCT, CP ϩ MCT and LP ϩ MCT groups were pair-fed their respective diets based on the amount of diet consumed by the LP Ϫ MCT group. Rats were fed each experimental diet for 30 d. Four weeks later, the respiratory quotient was higher in the LP Ϫ MCT group than those in the other groups during the fasting period. Hepatic triglyceride content increased in the LP groups compared with the CP groups. Hepatic triglyceride content in the LP ϩ MCT group, however, was significantly decreased compared with that in the LP Ϫ MCT group. Levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) 1a mRNA and CPT2 mRNA were significantly decreased in the livers of the LP Ϫ MCT group, as compared with corresponding mRNA levels of the other groups. These results suggest that ingestion of a low-protein diet caused fatty liver in growing rats. However, when rats were fed the low-protein diet with MCT, hepatic triglyceride deposition was attenuated, and mRNA levels encoding CPT1a and CPT2 were preserved at the levels of rats fed control protein diets.

Summary Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most serious forms of malnutrition. This experiment was conducted to investigate whether acidic xylooligosaccharide (U-XOS), expected to have a high iron bioavailability, was useful in the prevention of iron deficiency. Experiment 1: Nineteen female Sprague-Dawley rats (20 wk old) were fed three different diets for 28 d; a U-XOS-supplemented low-iron diet (LI-X, n ϭ 7), a low-iron diet (LI, n ϭ 6), and a control diet (C, n ϭ 6). On day 28, the LI-X and LI groups showed iron deficiency without anemia. A significant difference in the total and unsaturated iron binding capacity, and serum transferrin saturation level was shown in the LI-X and LI groups, compared with the C group. However, the decrease of hepatic iron content of the LI-X group was suppressed compared with the LI group. Experiment 2: Eleven male Sprague-Dawley rats (7 wk old) were fed a U-XOS-supplemented diet (X, n ϭ 5) or a control diet (C, n ϭ 6) for 7 d. No significant difference in body weight gain or food intake was demonstrated between the two groups; the apparent iron absorption rate of the X group increased clearly compared with that of the C group. These results suggested that a U-XOS diet could preserve storage of hepatic iron in adult female rats fed a low-iron diet and could prevent IDA by promotion of dietary iron absorption, inhibition of iron excretion, and/or improvement of iron bioavailability.