title: Perinatal salt restriction: a new pathway to programming adiposity indices in adult female Wistar rats.
abstract: Low birth weight has been associated with increased obesity in adulthood. It has been shown that dietary salt restriction during intrauterine life induces low birth weight and insulin resistance in adult Wistar rats. The present study had a two-fold objective: to evaluate the effects that low salt intake during pregnancy and lactation has on the amount and distribution of adipose tissue; and to determine whether the phenotypic changes in fat mass in this model are associated with alterations in the activity of the renin-angiotensin system. Maternal salt restriction was found to reduce birth weight in male and female offspring. In adulthood, the female offspring of dams fed the low-salt diet presented higher adiposity indices than those seen in the offspring of dams fed a normal-salt diet. This was attributed to the fact that adipose tissue mass (retroperitoneal but not gonadal, mesenteric or inguinal) was greater in those rats than in the offspring of dams fed a normal diet. The adult offspring of dams fed the low-salt diet, compared to those dams fed a normal-salt diet, presented the following: plasma leptin levels higher in males and lower in females; plasma renin activity higher in males but not in females; and no differences in body weight, mean arterial blood pressure or serum angiotensin-converting enzyme activity. Therefore, low salt intake during pregnancy might lead to the programming of obesity in adult female offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Laboratory of Experimental Hypertension of the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, 01246-903 São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Luzia N S
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Ivone B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Miriam S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dolnikoff
authors.forename: Joel C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Heimann
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000254:growth & development; D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary; D012083:Renin