Early cardiovascular remodeling in the offspring of rats exposed to undernutrition during pregnancy

Abstract

AIMTo assess if undernutrition during pregnancy induces early structural cardiovascular alterations in the offspring.METHODSRats were fed ad libitum with standard chow throughout gestation (control; C) or restricted to 50% the last 10 days of gestation (restricted; R) and offspring was weighted at birth. In 6‐day old rats, body and heart weights were measured. Hearts were frozen in liquid N2 to quantify collagen content (Sircol Kit) or fixed and paraffine‐embedded to assess collagen distribution (sirius red staining). Carotid arteries were mounted on a pressure myograph to measure geometrical parameters.RESULTSR pups had smaller birth weight (5.25±0.21g; n=24) compared to C (6.44±0.14 g, n=21; p<0.05). This difference was maintained in 6‐day old rats (R=10.6±0.25 g; C=12.23±0.28g, p<0.05) together with heart hypertrophy (R=0.007±0.0002; C=0.006±0.0001 heart weight/body weight; n=10; p<0.05) and increased heart collagen content located in the interstitium. Carotid arteries from R pups showed a significant reduction of internal and external diameters.CONCLUSIONMaternal undernutrition is associated with early cardiovascular remodeling which might predispose to increase blood pressure later in life.