Pre- and Postnatal Nutritional Histories Influence Reproductive Maturation and Ovarian Function in the Rat

Abstract

BackgroundWhile prepubertal nutritional influences appear to play a role in sexual maturation, there is a need to clarify the potential contributions of maternal and childhood influences in setting the tempo of reproductive maturation. In the present study we employed an established model of nutritional programming to evaluate the relative influences of prenatal and postnatal nutrition on growth and ovarian function in female offspring.MethodsPregnant Wistar rats were fed either a calorie-restricted diet, a high fat diet, or a control diet during pregnancy and/or lactation. Offspring then were fed either a control or a high fat diet from the time of weaning to adulthood. Pubertal age was monitored and blood samples collected in adulthood for endocrine analyses.ResultsWe report that in the female rat, pubertal timing and subsequent ovarian function is influenced by the animal's nutritional status in utero, with both maternal caloric restriction and maternal high fat nutrition resulting in early pubertal onset. Depending on the offspring's nutritional history during the prenatal and lactational periods, subsequent nutrition and body weight gain did not further influence offspring reproductive tempo, which was dominated by the effect of prenatal nutrition. Whereas maternal calorie restriction leads to early pubertal onset, it also leads to a reduction in adult progesterone levels later in life. In contrast, we found that maternal high fat feeding which also induces early maturation in offspring was associated with elevated progesterone concentrations.ConclusionsThese observations are suggestive of two distinct developmental pathways leading to the acceleration of pubertal timing but with different consequences for ovarian function. We suggest different adaptive explanations for these pathways and for their relationship to altered metabolic homeostasis.

The influence of weather conditions during gestation on life histories in a wild Arctic ungulate

“…For instance in the rat, maternal caloric restriction during pregnancy led to early pubertal onset of offspring [65]. We cannot measure the influence of ROS utero on age at first reproduction of female reindeer because this life-history trait is unknown for most of them.…”

Epigenetic changes in early life and future risk of obesity

“…Feeding an obesogenic diet to female rats before mating and through lactation has also been shown to lead to maternal obesity as well as hyperphagia, increased adiposity, decreased muscle mass, reduced locomoter activity and accelerated puberty in the offspring. 57 Samuelsson et al 58 have also shown that offspring from pregnant rats fed with a 'junk food diet' of 16% fat and 33% sugar throughout pregnancy and lactation exhibited higher blood pressure, greater adiposity and insulin resistance in comparison with control offspring. There were also persistent alterations in the expression of PPARg2, 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type I and the b2 and b3 adrenoreceptors in adipose tissue of the offspring, which may lead to increased adipogenesis and decrease lipolysis in these rats.…”

Developmental variations in environmental influences including endocrine disruptors on pubertal timing and neuroendocrine control: Revision of human observations and mechanistic insight from rodents

“…Maternal food restriction (Leonhardt et al, 2003;Iwasa et al, 2010) or uterine artery ligation (Engelbregt et al, 2000) are associated with late vaginal opening or first estrus. Some authors have reported no effect of maternal food restriction on pubertal development while a single study (Sloboda et al, 2009) found an acceleration of pubertal onset. Such discrepancies could be due to differences in food restriction, birth weight or postnatal weight gain.…”