Adipose tissue macrophages (ATM) are implicated in adipose tissue inflammation and obesity-related insulin resistance. Maternal low protein models result in fetal programming of obesity. The study aims to answer whether maternal undernutrition by protein restriction affects the ATM M1 or M2 phenotype under postnatal high fat diet in F1 offspring. Using a rat model of prenatal low protein (LP, 8...

Both protein-energy and energy-restricted diets during lactation program the ovarian function of the rat offspring, leading to a reduction of folliculogenesis, possibly as the consequence of the altered expression of leptin and its isoform receptor genes.

BACKGROUND Adult metabolic syndrome may originate in part during fetal or early life. This study was designed to investigate the effects of prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on adipose development and local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activation in rat offspring. METHODS Pregnant rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 8 in each), including an NS group (pregnant rats ...

Epidemiological evidence indicates that osteoarthritis (OA) and prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) are both associated with low birth weight but possible causal interrelationships have not been investigated. To investigate the effects of PEE on the susceptibility to OA in adult rats that experienced intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), and to explore potential intrauterine mechanisms, we establ...

Exposure to polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) has been reported to affect endocrine glands; however, little is known about the precise toxicological properties of individual PCBs. We determined whether prenatal exposure to 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB 153), a di-ortho-substituted non-coplanar congener, affects postnatal development in rat offspring. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were given PC...

BACKGROUND Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous environmental chemical with reported endocrine-disrupting properties. OBJECTIVE Our goal in this study was to determine whether prenatal exposure to BPA predisposes the adult rat mammary gland to carcinogenesis. METHODS Pregnant rats were treated orally with 0, 25, or 250 microg BPA/kg body weight (BW) from gestation day (GD) 10 to GD21. For tumo...

We recently hypothesized that the intestinal microbiota and the innate immune system play key roles in the mechanism of Kilham Rat Virus-induced type 1 diabetes in the LEW1.WR1 rat. We used this animal model to test the hypothesis that maternal therapy with short-chain fatty acids can modulate the intestinal microbiota and reverse virus-induced proinflammatory responses and type 1 diabetes in r...

Bisphenol A (BPA), a compound of great concern as an estrogenic xenobiotic, was assessed for its ability to cause alteration in the accessory sex organs and spermatogenesis in male offspring exposed preneonatally and neonatally. In a series of experiments focusing on rat sensitivity to gestational and lactational exposure to BPA, we investigated its effects on gestation period and reproductive ...

The importance of early environment, including maternal diet during pregnancy, is suspected to play a major role in pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome and related conditions. One of the proposed mechanisms is a mismatch between the prenatal and postnatal environments, leading to misprogramming of the metabolic and signaling pathways of the developing fetus. We assessed whether the exposure to h...

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) defined as impaired glucose tolerance affects approximately 6 % of all pregnant women who have never before had diabetes, but who do have high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. This study was done to evaluate the apoptosis in the neuronal cells in the CA1, CA2 and CA3 subfields of hippocampus and dentate gyrus in offspring of gestational diabetes at the ...