Postnatal overnutrition affects metabolic and vascular function reflected by physiological and histological changes in the aorta of adult Wistar rats

ABSTRACT

Rigorous nutritional care during early life leads to healthy adulthood. Cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, the most prevalent clinical challenges worldwide, are epidemiologically linked to poor nutritional habits throughout life. We aimed to understand whether postnatal overnutrition (PO) initiated during lactation affects metabolic markers and vascular function later in life. To test this hypothetical effect, we studied a PO Wistar rat model based on adjusting litter size at the third day of age to three pups and eight for the control group (C). Systemic parameters such as body weight and food intake were significantly increased in adult rats, measured up to 36 weeks. Moreover, fat mass, triglycerides, insulin and systolic blood pressure were all significantly increased in the PO group. Furthermore, we assessed whether these alterations would affect morphological and functional parameters in isolated vessels. Consistent with systemic alterations of the vasculature, contraction of thoracic aortic rings, determined by dose-response curves to norepinephrine (NE), was significantly reduced in PO rats. Histological stains revealed that the relative area of collagen was higher and the elastic fiber density was lower in the distal rings of PO rats. Altogether, our results highlight the critical importance of having a healthy neonatal nutrition to prevent harmful metabolic and vascular alterations during adulthood.

KEYWORDS:

• Rat
• postnatal overnutrition
• perivascular adipose tissue
• metabolic syndrome
• stiffness

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the contributions made by the Laboratory of Histology of the National Institute of Genomic Medicine, Mexico. This article includes data from the Doctoral dissertation of Sánchez-García G., who is the recipient of Ph.D. fellowship 325152 from CONACyT-México.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute of Science and Technology of the Federal District [PICDS08-24];National Council for Science and Technology [256830]. This work was supported by the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Distrito Federal [PICDS08-24]; and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [256830].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute of Science and Technology of the Federal District [PICDS08-24];National Council for Science and Technology [256830]. This work was supported by the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Distrito Federal [PICDS08-24]; and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [256830].