Hepatic structural alteration in adult programmed offspring (severe maternal protein restriction) is aggravated by post-weaning high-fat diet
- 1 October 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in British Journal of Nutrition
- Vol. 98 (6), 1159-1169
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114507771878
Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a post-weaning high-fat (HF) diet upon hepatic morphology in rats subjected to perinatal protein restriction. Pregnant Wistar rats were assigned to a normal-protein diet (NP; with 19 % of protein) or a low-protein (LP) diet (with 5 % of protein). At weaning, the following groups were formed: NP and NP-HF, males and females, which were fed standard chow and an HF diet, respectively. Likewise, LP rat dams originated LP and LP-HF offspring, both sexes. Euthanasia was performed at 6 months of age. Three-way ANOVA disclosed a three-factor interaction among sex, perinatal diet and HF diet in relation to body mass, retroperitoneal fat pad, liver mass:tibia length ratio, binucleation rate and hepatocyte area at 6 months old (P < 0·05). The high-fat diet intensified the effects of perinatal protein restriction concerning systolic blood pressure, genital fat pad and hepatocyte number (P < 0·05; two-way ANOVA). Furthermore, higher steatosis rates and insulin and leptin concentrations were found in males fed on the HF diet, indicating a sex–post-weaning diet interaction (P < 0·05; two-way ANOVA). Fetal programming and HF diet as a single stimulus caused mild hypertension at 3 months, an important reduction in hepatocyte number as well as stage 1 steatosis at 6 months. However, hypertension and hepatocyte number deficit were worsened and grade 2 steatosis occurred after exposure to the HF diet. All of these serve to highlight the paramount importance of intra-uterine conditions and postnatal diet quality when it comes to the pathogenesis of chronic diseases.Keywords
This publication has 56 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Model of Insulin Resistance and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Rats: Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-α and n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Treatment on Liver InjuryThe American Journal of Pathology, 2006
- Saturated Fatty Acids Promote Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Liver Injury in Rats with Hepatic SteatosisEndocrinology, 2006
- Recent concepts in non‐alcoholic fatty liver diseaseDiabetic Medicine, 2005
- Semiquantitative evaluation overestimates the degree of steatosis in liver biopsies: a comparison to stereological point countingLaboratory Investigation, 2005
- Developmental programming of aortic and renal structure in offspring of rats fed fat‐rich diets in pregnancyThe Journal of Physiology, 2005
- Early programming of weight gain in mice prevents the induction of obesity by a highly palatable dietClinical Science, 2004
- Fetal origins of hyperphagia, obesity, and hypertension and postnatal amplification by hypercaloric nutritionAmerican Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2000
- Hypertension in cafeteria-fed rats: alterations in renal 2-adrenoceptor subtypesAmerican Journal of Hypertension, 2000
- Antecedent protein restriction exacerbates development of impaired insulin action after high-fat feedingAmerican Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1999
- Maternal Protein Restriction Influences the Programming of the Rat Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal AxisJournal of Nutrition, 1996