title: Early onset of reproductive function in female rats treated with a high-fat diet.
abstract: Puberty onset in mammals is tightly coupled to the animal's nutritional and metabolic state. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of a high-fat diet on leptin and adiponectin levels, leptin mRNA expression and puberty onset in female rats. On day 21, female rats were divided into 2 groups, normal food (NF) and high-fat food (HF). The HF group showed a significantly earlier (P<0.001) date of vaginal opening and lower body weight (P<0.001) than the NF group. The rats fed the HF food had a significantly heavier uterus (P<0.05) than those fed the NF food, whereas the serum leptin and adiponectin levels and leptin mRNA expression were not significantly different between the NF and HF groups. We speculate that the fat-induced nutritional imbalance in young females may lead to neuroendocrine dysfunction during adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. fsciwsf@ku.ac.th
authors.forename: Wirasak
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fungfuang
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakada
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
authors.forename: Toru R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D052242:Adiponectin; D004041:Dietary Fats; D020738:Leptin; D012333:RNA, Messenger