Muscle endothelial-dependent microvascular dysfunction in adulthood due to early postnatal overnutrition.

The aims of our study were to investigate effects of postnatal overnutrition, obtained by restricting the number of pups per litter, on microcirculatory reactivity, fat depots, its total percentage and lipid profile. Microvascular reactivity was evaluated in the cremaster muscle of 24 hamsters divided into four groups, with 6 animals in each one: normal (NL) and restricted (RL) litter groups, both at 6th and 21st weeks of age. The NL group had 8-9 pups and the RL 3 pups per litter and to avoid the litter effect, only one animal was used per litter.