Maternal High-Protein Diet during Pregnancy Modifies Rat Offspring Body Weight and Insulin Signalling but Not Macronutrient Preference in Adulthood

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 96
• Main Authors: Carlin, Gabrielle, Chaumontet, Catherine, Blachier, François, Barbillon, Pierre, Darcel, Nicolas, Blais, Anne, Delteil, Corine, Guillin, Florence M, Blat, Sophie, van der Beek, Eline M, Kodde, Andrea, Tomé, Daniel, Davila, Anne-Marie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 05-01-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; adiposity; Adiposity - physiology; Animals; Appetite; Body Composition; Body Weight; Carbohydrates; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diet; Diet, High-Protein; Dietary Carbohydrates - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary Proteins - administration & dosage; dietary self-selection; DNA methylation; Dopamine; Energy; Energy Intake; Female; Females; Food; Food and Nutrition; food preferences; Food Preferences - physiology; Gene expression; Gestation; High fat diet; High protein diet; Homeostasis; Insulin; Insulin - metabolism; Leptin; Leptin - blood; Life Sciences; Liver - metabolism; Low protein diet; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Metabolism; Neurosciences; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Nutrient deficiency; Nutrients - administration & dosage; Nutrition research; Obesity; Offspring; Preferences; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; programming; Proteins; rat; Rats; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Signal Transduction; France; Netherlands; dietary self-selection; adiposity; rat; high-protein diet; gestation; programming; food preferences; programmation nutritionnelle; adiposité; préférence alimentaire; Adiposity; High-protein diet; Dietary self-selection; régime hyperprotéique; Programming
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu11010096

Diet of mothers during gestation may impact offspring phenotype. This study evaluated the consequences of a maternal High-Protein (HP) diet during gestation on food preferences and phenotypic characteristics in adult rat offspring. Dams were fed a HP or a Normal-Protein (NP) isocaloric diet during gestation only. Weaned female pups were divided into 3 diet groups: NP control or one of two dietary self-selection (DSS) conditions. In DSS1, offspring had a free choice between proteins (100%) or a mix of carbohydrates (88%) and lipids (12%). In DSS2, the choice was between proteins (100%), carbohydrate (100%) or lipids (100%). DSS2 groups consumed more of their energy from protein and lipids, with a decreased carbohydrate intake (
< 0.0001) compared to NP groups, regardless of the maternal diet. Offspring from HP gestation dams fed the DSS2 diet (HPDSS2) had a 41.2% increase of total adiposity compared to NPDSS2 (
< 0.03). Liver Insulin receptor and Insulin substrate receptor 1 expression was decreased in offspring from HP compared to NP gestation dams. These results showed the specific effects of DSS and maternal diet and data suggested that adult, female offspring exposed to a maternal HP diet during foetal life were more prone to adiposity development, in response to postweaning food conditions.