Effect of a High Fat Diet on Body Composition,Cellularity,and Enzyme Levels during Early Development of the Rat 1

Abstract

A high fat (60%) and a low fat (5%) diet were fed to female rats during gestation and lactation and to their male and female offspring for 3 weeks postweaning. The cellular effects of feeding all combinations of the two diets during the three growth periods (gestation, lactation, and rapid growth) were determined in Wistar rats. “Nutritional imprinting” of earlier dietary regimes on enzyme profiles and adipose cell number was not observed after rats were fed a control diet to maturity. The high fat diet caused reduced fat deposition during gestation. During lactation, the high fat diet caused increased fat deposition. Post-weaning rats had increased carcass fat, decreased protein, and lower carcass weight due to the high fat diet. Serum glucose was lower for fat-fed males during lactation and also for postweaning males and females. Fat feeding in lactation caused a decrease in adipose cell numbers which was not evident until rats were 6 weeks of age. The effect was only transient when rats were fed the chow diet until 21 weeks of age. Fat feeding for 3 weeks postweaning caused a significant decrease in liver DNA of 21-week-old male and female rats.