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High-Carbohydrate Intake Only During the Suckling Period Results in Adult-Onset Obesity in Mother as well as Offspring

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Obesity Before Birth

Part of the book series: Endocrine Updates ((ENDO,volume 30))

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Abstract

Abstract The prevalence of obesity has escalated at alarming rates, particularly in Westernized societies. Although consumption of fat-enriched diets and sedentary lifestyles are implicated in the etiology of the obesity epidemic, the increase in prevalence within the past 30 years implicates a role for other factors. Altered nutritional experiences during early periods in life (fetal and suckling), through the phenomenon of metabolic programming, may contribute to the development of metabolic disorders in adulthood. Data from epidemiological studies, as well as from appropriate animal models, have shown that maternal overnutrition or undernutrition during pregnancy increases the risk for poor health outcomes in the offspring. Less information is available on the role of an altered dietary experience in the suckling period on metabolic programming for adult-onset disorders. We have developed a rat model for adult-onset obesity by artificially rearing newborn rat pups on a high-carbohydrate (HC) milk formula during the suckling period. HC-treated rats (F0 generation) manifest chronic hyperinsulinemia and adult-onset obesity. The obese and hyperinsulinemic intrauterine environment encountered in the HC female rats (F0) resulted in programming of chronic hyperinsulinemia and adult-onset obesity in the offspring (F1 generation). That maternal obesity begets offspring obesity is being increasingly recognized. A similar generational effect may contribute to obesity in humans. The mechanisms belying the generational effect in the obese mother are not well understood, but are necessary to develop intervention strategies to curb the tide of the obesity epidemic. The HC rat model is a useful tool for this purpose.

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Acknowledgments

The work summarized in this review on the HC rat model was supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Grants DK-51601 and DK-61518 awarded to MSP. We thank Dr. Gail Willsky (Department of Biochemistry, University at Buffalo) for critical reading of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Mulchand S. Patel & Malathi Srinivasan

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  1. Mulchand S. Patel
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  2. Malathi Srinivasan
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Correspondence to Mulchand S. Patel .

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  1. Director, Weight Assessment for Teen and, Division of Endocrinology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, 94143, USA

    Robert H Lustig

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Patel, M.S., Srinivasan, M. (2011). High-Carbohydrate Intake Only During the Suckling Period Results in Adult-Onset Obesity in Mother as well as Offspring. In: Lustig, R. (eds) Obesity Before Birth. Endocrine Updates, vol 30. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7034-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7034-3_13

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