title: Immediate Postnatal Overfeeding in Rats Programs Aortic Wall Structure Alterations and Metalloproteinases Dysregulation in Adulthood.
abstract: Alterations in the nutritional perinatal environment, such as intrauterine growth retardation with subsequent postnatal catch-up growth, program cardiovascular disease in adulthood, possibly through alterations in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9. However, experimental evidences demonstrating that changes in the nutritional perinatal environment can program MMP-2 and -9 with subsequent alterations of vessel wall are lacking.
  
  
  
  The current study evaluated whether immediate postnatal overfeeding is able to alter vascular morphological indexes and circulating and/or vascular MMP2-2 and -9 status.
  
  
  
  Aortic morphology (wall thickness and percentage of incomplete elastin lamellae) and circulating and aortic MMP-2 and -9 activity (measured by gelatin zymography) and aortic MMP-2 and -9 mRNA (measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)) were studied in adult male rats overfed (OF) or normofed (NF) during the immediate postnatal period.
  
  
  
  Postnatal overfeeding induced early onset obesity. Adult OF rats presented with increased blood pressure and circulating MMP-2 and -9 activity. In the thoracic aorta, postnatal overfeeding increased wall thickness and decreased elastin integrity (as demonstrated by an increased percentage of incomplete elastin lamellae). OF rats showed enhanced aortic MMP-2 activity and MMP-9 mRNA levels. Circulating and aortic MMP-2 activity correlated positively with the percentage of incomplete elastin lamellae and aortic wall thickness, respectively.
  
  
  
  Our data demonstrate for the first time that immediate postnatal nutritional programming induces increases in circulating and aortic MMP-2 activity with parallel aortic wall alterations, such as decreased elastin integrity and enhanced thickening, showing that this experimental model is suitable for the study of perinatal nutritional programming of vascular functions.
authors.affiliation: Inserm, UMR1062, Marseille, France; INRA, UMR 1260, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Achard
authors.affiliation: Inserm, UMR1062, Marseille, France; INRA, UMR 1260, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Inserm, UMR1062, Marseille, France; INRA, UMR 1260, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tassistro
authors.affiliation: Inserm, UMR1062, Marseille, France; INRA, UMR 1260, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verdier
authors.affiliation: Inserm, UMR1062, Marseille, France; INRA, UMR 1260, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Alessi
authors.affiliation: Inserm, UMR1062, Marseille, France; INRA, UMR 1260, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France. michel.grino@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004549:Elastin / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 / Q000097:blood*; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000097:blood*; D044343:Overnutrition / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D004549:Elastin; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; C522362:Mmp2 protein, mouse; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9; C501830:Mmp9 protein, mouse
keywords: MMP-2; MMP-9; aortic wall; blood pressure; elastin lamellae; gelatin zymography; hypertension; postnatal programming.