Influence of nutrients on developmental programming of metabolism

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There is convincing evidence that nutritional influences early in life can permanently program adult health. A range of animal studies have shown that maternal under-nutrition during pregnancy can be harmful to the offspring once they reach adulthood. Disturbances in body weight, blood glucose control and lipid (fat) metabolism often present to a greater extent in offspring of undernourished versus well-nourished female rats. Much less is known, however, about maternal over-nutrition and the lasting effects it has on offspring. Over-nutrition of certain dietary components has the potential to be either protective or detrimental. The two dietary treatments we wish to examine in this grant are high fiber and high protein. Our goal, therefore, is to determine the effect of maternal diet on developmental programming of lipid and glucose metabolism in offspring. We hypothesize or predict that maternal diets high in dietary fiber will program protective effects and those high in protein will program detrimental effects in offspring. The specific objectives we will address in this grant are: 1) Determine the long-term effects of a maternal diet high in fiber or protein on lipid and glucose metabolism in offspring once they reach adulthood; 2) Determine the effect of a maternal diet high in dietary fiber and protein on gut bacterial profiles of mothers and offspring. Certain bacteria in the gut can increase energy harvest from food and increase body fat; 3) Determine the effect of an imbalance between prenatal and postnatal nutritional environment. Mismatched environments may be more harmful; 4) Determine whether a postnatal diet high in dietary fiber can reverse the negative developmental programming associated with compromised prenatal nutrition. The overall goal of this proposal is to undertake basic research on how dietary patterns during fetal development affect glucose and lipid metabolism. The results of this work will provide important insight into the factors involved in the developmental origins of health and disease. The impact of high intakes of dietary fiber and protein, a relatively untouched area of research in the developmental literature, is likely to greatly expand our knowledge of how nutrition programs the health of the fetus for life.