title: Severe maternal hyperglycemia exacerbates the development of insulin resistance and fatty liver in the offspring on high fat diet.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adverse maternal environments may predispose the offspring to metabolic syndrome in adulthoods, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Maternal hyperglycemia was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) injection while control (CON) rats received citrate buffer. Litters were adjusted to eight pups per dam and then weaned to standard diet. Since 13 weeks old, a subset of offspring from STZ and CON dams were switched to high fat diet (HFD) for another 13 weeks. Glucose and insulin tolerance tests (GTT and ITT) and insulin secretion assay were performed; serum levels of lipids and leptin were measured. Hepatic fat accumulation and islet area were evaluated through haematoxylin and eosin staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  STZ offspring exhibited lower survival rate, lower birth weights, and growth inhibition which persisted throughout the study. STZ offspring on HFD showed more severe impairment in GTT and ITT, and more profound hepatic steatosis and more severe hyperlipidemia compared with CON-HFD rats.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Offspring from diabetic dams would be prone to exhibit low birth weight and postnatal growth inhibition, but could maintain normal glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. HFD accelerates development of insulin resistance in the offspring of diabetic dams mainly via a compensatory response of islets.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jibin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Qijuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jingna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaoyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xiaoqiu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin