High-fat diet during lactation, as opposed to during adolescence or gestation, programs cardiometabolic and autonomic dysfunctions in adult offspring.

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept has been established for three decades. Many studies have shown that, besides pregnancy, other plastic phases (mainly preconception, lactation, and infancy-adolescence) are also sensitive to environmental changes, including nutritional conditions, that can program health or disease later in life. This study compared the susceptibility of the gestation, lactation and adolescence to a high-fat diet (HFD) intervention to program rats into autonomic nervous system imbalance and cardiometabolic dysfunction in adulthood.

Hypertension induced by peri-pubertal protein restriction depends on renin-angiotensin system dysfunction in adult male rats.

Background And Aims: Hypertension depends on renin-angiotensin system dysfunction; however, little is known about its implications in the outcomes of neurogenic hypertension induced by peri-pubertal insults. This study aimed to evaluate whether hypertension induced by a peri-pubertal low-protein diet is related to renin-angiotensin system dysfunction in adult male Wistar rats.

Methods And Results: Thirty-day-old male Wistar rats were fed a low-protein diet (4 % casein) for 30 days and subsequently fed a 20.

Puberty as a DOHaD programming window: high-fat diet induces long-term hepatic dysfunction in male rats.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether high-fat (HF) diet intake during puberty can program obesity as well as generate glucose imbalance and hepatic metabolic dysfunctions in adult life. Male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into two groups: rats fed standard chow (NF) and rats fed a HF from postnatal 30-day-old (PND30) until PND60. Then, both groups were fed a standard chow from PND60 until PND120.

Protein restriction during lactation causes transgenerational metabolic dysfunction in adult rat offspring.

Introduction: Protein restriction during lactation can induce metabolic dysfunctions and has a huge impact on the offspring's phenotype later in its life. We tested whether the effects of a maternal low-protein diet (LP) in rats can be transmitted to the F2 generation and increase their vulnerability to dietary insults in adulthood.

Methods: Female Wistar rats (F0) were fed either a low-protein diet (LP; 4% protein) during the first 2 weeks of lactation or a normal-protein diet (NP; 23% protein).

Protein-caloric restriction induced HPA axis activation and altered the milk composition imprint metabolism of weaned rat offspring.

Objectives: Maternal protein-caloric restriction during lactation can malprogram offspring into having a lean phenotype associated with metabolic dysfunction in early life and adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between nutritional stress, maternal behavior and metabolism, milk composition, and offspring parameters. Additionally, we focused on the role of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivation during lactation.

Time-restricted feeding during embryonic development leads to metabolic dysfunction in adult rat offspring.

Objectives: Maternal circadian eating time and frequency are associated with altered glucose metabolism during pregnancy in humans. Research on long maternal fasting intervals is inconclusive, and little is known about the effect of maternal time feeding on offspring health. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to determine whether maternal time feeding influences the metabolic status of both male and female offspring.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation During Lactation Programs the Metabolism of Adult Wistar Rats in a Sex-specific Way.

Background: The intestinal microbiota is involved in many physiological processes. However, the effects of microbiota in metabolic programming still unknow. We evaluated whether the transplantation of fecal microbiota during early life can program health or disease during adulthood in a model of lean and obese male and female Wistar rats.

Protein Restriction in the Peri-Pubertal Period Induces Autonomic Dysfunction and Cardiac and Vascular Structural Changes in Adult Rats.

Perturbations to nutrition during critical periods are associated with changes in embryonic, fetal or postnatal developmental patterns that may render the offspring more likely to develop cardiovascular disease in later life. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether autonomic nervous system imbalance underpins in the long-term hypertension induced by dietary protein restriction during peri-pubertal period. Male Wistar rats were assigned to groups fed with a low protein (4% protein, LP) or control diet (20.

Maternal postnatal early overfeeding induces sex-related cardiac dysfunction and alters sexually hormones levels in young offspring.

Postnatal early overfeeding (PO) is a risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders. However, remains unknown the cardiac effects in the second generation from postnatal overfed dams. Our aim was to investigate the effects of maternal PO on cardiac parameters in second generation (F2) offspring.

Neonatal metformin short exposure inhibits male reproductive dysfunction caused by a high-fat diet in adult rats.

Metformin (Met) is widely used to control blood glucose levels and acts on various organs, including reproductive tissues, to improve reproductive and lifespan. This study evaluated whether neonatal Met exposure prevented male reproductive dysfunction caused by being overweight during adulthood. Randomized Wistar rat pups received an intraperitoneal injection from postnatal days (PNDs) 1 to 12of saline (Sal; 0.

Soy isoflavones recover pancreatic islet function and prevent metabolic dysfunction in male rats.

We tested whether chronic supplementation with soy isoflavones could modulate insulin secretion levels and subsequent recovery of pancreatic islet function as well as prevent metabolic dysfunction induced by early overfeeding in adult male rats. Wistar rats raised in small litters (SL, three pups/dam) and normal litters (NL, nine pups/dam) were used as models of early overfeeding and normal feeding, respectively. At 30 to 90 days old, animals in the SL and NL groups received either soy isoflavones extract (ISO) or water (W) gavage serving as controls.

COVID-19 During Development: A Matter of Concern.

A new infectious disease, COVID-19, has spread around the world. The most common symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are cough and fever, but severe cases can develop acute respiratory distress syndrome. The main receptor for SARS-CoV-2 in human tissue is angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, and the lungs, heart, and kidneys are the most affected organs.

High-fructose diet during puberty alters the sperm parameters, testosterone concentration, and histopathology of testes and epididymis in adult Wistar rats.

The consumption of fructose has increased in children and adolescents and is partially responsible for the high incidence of metabolic diseases. The lifestyle during postnatal development can result in altered metabolic programming, thereby impairing the reproductive system and fertility during adulthood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a high-fructose diet in the male reproductive system of pubertal and adult rats.

Extended light period in the maternal circadian cycle impairs the reproductive system of the rat male offspring.

Alterations in the circadian cycle are known to cause physiological disorders in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes in adult individuals. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate whether exposure of pregnant rats to constant light can alter the reproductive system development of male offspring. The dams were divided into two groups: a light-dark group (LD), in which pregnant rats were exposed to an LD photoperiod (12 h/12 h) and a light-light (LL) group, in which pregnant rats were exposed to a photoperiod of constant light during the gestation period.

Early metformin treatment improves pancreatic function and prevents metabolic dysfunction in early overfeeding male rats at adulthood.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Studies reported the efficacy of metformin as a promising drug for preventing or treating of metabolic diseases. Nutrient stresses during neonatal life increase long-term risk for cardiometabolic diseases. Can early metformin treatment prevent the malprogramming effects of early overfeeding? What is the main finding and its importance? Neonatal metformin treatment prevented early overfeeding-induced metabolic dysfunction in adult rats.

Cholinergic-pathway-weakness-associated pancreatic islet dysfunction: a low-protein-diet imprint effect on weaned rat offspring.

Currently, metabolic disorders are one of the major health problems worldwide, which have been shown to be related to perinatal nutritional insults, and the autonomic nervous system and endocrine pancreas are pivotal targets of the malprogramming of metabolic function. We aimed to assess glucose-insulin homeostasis and the involvement of cholinergic responsiveness (vagus nerve activity and insulinotropic muscarinic response) in pancreatic islet capacity to secrete insulin in weaned rat offspring whose mothers were undernourished in the first 2 weeks of the suckling phase. At delivery, dams were fed a low-protein (4% protein, LP group) or a normal-protein diet (20.

Impairment of testicular development in rats exposed to acephate during maternal gestation and lactation.

Acephate is an organophosphate insecticide that disrupts the endocrine system and impairs the male reproductive system. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate whether exposure to acephate during maternal gestation and lactation histologically damages the testes of male Wistar rats in adulthood. For this study, adult Wistar rats were divided into the following groups: ACE-mother, (2.

Early weaning induces short- and long-term effects on pancreatic islets in Wistar rats of both sexes.

Key Points: The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age as an important strategy to reduce child morbidity and mortality. Studies have associated early weaning with the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. In our model, we demonstrated that early weaning leads to increased insulin secretion in adolescent males and reduced insulin secretion in adult offspring.

Swimming training reduces glucose-amplifying pathway and cholinergic responses in islets from lean- and MSG-obese rats.

Here, we investigate the effects of exercise training on glucose- and cholinergic-induced insulin secretion in pancreatic islets from obese and lean rats. Male Wistar rats were treated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) for the first 5 days of life, while control (CON) rats received saline. At 21 days, the rats were divided into exercised (EXE) and sedentary (SED) groups.

Forced internal desynchrony induces cardiometabolic alterations in adult rats.

Disruptions in circadian rhythms have been associated with several diseases, including cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Forced internal desynchronization induced by a period of T-cycles of 22 h (T22 protocol) reaches the lower limit of entrainment and dissociates the circadian rhythmicity of the locomotor activity into two components, driven by different outputs from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The main goal of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular and metabolic response in rats submitted to internal desynchronization by T22 protocol.

Postnatal early overfeeding induces cardiovascular dysfunction by oxidative stress in adult male Wistar rats.

Aims: Obesity is associated with innumerous comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases, that occur by various mechanisms, including hyperactivation of the renin angiotensin system, oxidative stress and cardiovascular overload. Postnatal early overfeeding (PO) leads to metabolic imprinting that induces weight gain throughout life, and in this paper, we aimed to evaluate cardiovascular parameters and cardiac molecular changes due to obesity induced early in life by PO.

Main Methods: Male Wistar rats (120-days-old), raised in normal (NL) or small litters (SL), were submitted to cardiac assessment by transthoracic echocardiography and blood pressure evaluation.

Moderate Physical Training Ameliorates Cardiovascular Dysfunction Induced by High Fat Diet After Cessation of Training in Adult Rats.

We aimed to test whether moderate physical training can induce long-lasting protection against cardiovascular risk factors induced by high fat diet (HFD) intake, even after cessation of training. 90-days-old Wistar rats were submitted to a sedentary lifestyle or moderate physical training, three times a week, for 30 days. Following this, at 120 days-of age, sedentary and trained rats received a hypercaloric diet (HFD) or a commercial diet normal fat diet (NFD) for 30 days.

Malnutrition during late pregnancy exacerbates high-fat-diet-induced metabolic dysfunction associated with lower sympathetic nerve tonus in adult rat offspring.

We aimed to assess the effects of a maternal protein-caloric restriction diet during late pregnancy on the metabolism of rat offspring fed a high-fat diet (HFD) during adulthood. During late pregnancy, rat dams received either a low-protein (4%; LP group) or normoprotein (23%; NP group) diet. After weaning, the offspring were fed a standard diet (Control; C).