Maternal high-protein diet during pregnancy modifies rat offspring body weight and insulin signalling but not macronutrient preference in adulthood

Supplementary Materials: The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/1/96/s1, Methods S1: Animal procedure details during each experimental period, Methods F1: Example, for each diet group, of voxel masks of total (a), subcutaneous (b) and visceral adipose (c) tissues on the section 47/95 frompictures obtained by MRI. Volume of adipose tissues was determined by quantification of the voxel’s mask, from all sections of each rat, directly converted to mm3 by the software. MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging, Table S1: P Primers, Table S2: Gut hormones in plasma on PND105, Table S3: Gene expression in adipose tissue and hypothalamus on PND105

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English. Diet of mothers during gestation may impact offspring phenotype. This study evaluated the consequences of a maternal High-Protein (HP) diet during gestation on food preferences and phenotypic characteristics in adult rat offspring. Dams were fed a HP or a Normal-Protein (NP) isocaloric diet during gestation only. Weaned female pups were divided into 3 diet groups: NP control or one of two dietary self-selection (DSS) conditions. In DSS1, offspring had a free choice between proteins (100%) or a mix of carbohydrates (88%) and lipids (12%). In DSS2, the choice was between proteins (100%), carbohydrate (100%) or lipids (100%). DSS2 groups consumed more of their energy from protein and lipids, with a decreased carbohydrate intake (p < 0.0001) compared to NP groups, regardless of the maternal diet. Offspring from HP gestation dams fed the DSS2 diet (HPDSS2) had a 41.2% increase of total adiposity compared to NPDSS2 (p < 0.03). Liver Insulin receptor and Insulin substrate receptor 1 expression was decreased in offspring from HP compared to NP gestation dams. These results showed the specific effects of DSS and maternal diet and data suggested that adult, female offspring exposed to a maternal HP diet during foetal life were more prone to adiposity development, in response to postweaning food conditions.