Hypocaloric diet in perinatal life followed by obesity exacerbates metabolic disorders in the offspring of wistar rats

Abstract

The effects of an obesogenic post-weaning diet on the growth and metabolic parameters of adult offspring submitted to a hypocaloric diet in perinatal life were evaluated. Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups according to maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation: Control (C, received normocaloric diet) and hypocaloric diet during pregnancy and lactation (H, received hypocaloric diet). At weaning, half the number of animals in each group was divided into two more groups according to the post-weaning diet: control (CC, n=12), control and subject to the obesogenic diet (CO n=11), hypocaloric diet and control (HC, n=14) and hypocaloric and obesogenic diet (HO, n=9). Maternal body weight, food intake, and energy intake were recorded daily. In the offspring, birth weight, growth rate, and physical characteristics were evaluated. At 120 days, relative food consumption, glucose tolerance test (GTT), biochemical profile, and organ weight were analyzed. Mothers on a low-calorie diet showed no difference in body weight during pregnancy or lactation even with lower energy intake. In offspring, litters from mothers fed a low-calorie diet showed a deficit in physical characteristics (growth restriction and low weight). The effect of an obesogenic diet on visceral fat weight, GTT, and hypercholesterolemia was most pronounced in animals subjected to a perinatal hypocaloric diet followed by a lifelong obesogenic diet. Conclusion: Our observations expand the evidence that social environments with food scarcity and/or obesogenic environments determine greater susceptibility to obesity.