Association between nutrition and gender during lactation influencing glucose homeostasis and blood pressure of the adult offspring

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the association between nutritional status and gender of rat pups during the early postnatal period (lactation) induces changes in glucose homeostasis and blood pressure of the pups when becoming adults. The results indicate that undernourishment during lactation is associated with gender and affects glucose homeostasis and blood pressure of female adults. In our experiments, the blood glucose level at the end of a clamping was significantly different in the undernourished females (FU) compared with the female controls (FC) (FC: 11.2 +/- 0.9 mmol/l; FU: 26.9 +/- 2.1 mmol/l; p </=0.001). On the other hand, the undernourished male (MU) group, when compared with the male control (MC) group, showed constant and similar glycemia during clamp-induced hyperglycemia, despite there being a significant reduction of plasma insulin (at the end of the clamping, MC: 595 +/- 35 pmol/l and MU: 210 +/- 4 pmol/l) in this group. In addition, in contrast to the control groups and the MU group, the systolic and diastolic (d) pressures at the end of the experimental period of the FU group were significantly lower than those of the FC group (FC: 15.3 +/- 0.30 mm Hg and FU: 14.7 +/- 0.25 mm Hg, p < 0.001; FCd: 7.7 +/- 0.25 mm Hg and Fud: 6.8 +/- 0.4 mm Hg, p</=0.001). Therefore, our results provide clear evidence that nutrition is associated with gender during the early postnatal period by inducing persistent changes in physiological outcomes.