title: Cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes display differences in glucose uptake and sensitivity to dexamethasone related to maternal diet.
abstract: Feeding a low protein (LP) diet in rat pregnancy is associated with impaired cardiovascular health and function, possibly as a result of tissue remodelling. To assess whether cardiomyocytes retain differences induced by protein restriction, cells from neonatal rats exposed to control or LP diets in utero were cultured for a period of 10 days. At the end of this period, no differences in cell size, proliferation differentiation or metabolic function were noted. When treated with dexamethasone (0.1-10 μM) for 2 days, it was noted that insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was enhanced, but only in cells from LP rats. Increased glucocorticoid sensitivity of cardiomyocytes from LP rats could not be explained by differential expression of the glucocorticoid receptor or the glucose transporters, GLUT1 and GLUT4. The findings of the study suggest that sensitivity to endocrine signals may be permanently programmed by undernutrition through mechanisms that are preserved in vitro.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, UK.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, UK.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Langley-Evans