Effect of maternal sucrose intake on the metabolic patterns of mature rat progeny

A study of the influence of maternal sucrose intake during either gestation or lactation or during both these periods on the metabolic patterns of mature progeny was conducted. The progeny were killed at 142 days of age after 16 hours without food. Levels of liver lipid, liver cholesterol, serum insulin, serum glucose, serum triglycerides, serum cholesterol were determined as were the activities of hepatic NADP-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme. Maternal sucrose intake significantly lowered the serum triglyceride levels in the mature starch-fed progeny while the feeding of sucrose postweaning elevated serum triglyceride levels. Maternal sucrose intake during the gestation period resulted in lower serum insulin levels in the mature progeny. The activities of the NADP-linked enzymes appeared to reflect the type of carbohydrate consumed by the progeny and were not affected by the diet of the maternal animal. The results of this experiment suggest that the type of carbohydrate fed to the pregnant or lactating animal can have an effect on the metabolic patterns of her progeny even though the progeny are fed a diet containing a different carbohydrate from weaning until 142 days of age. The results also show that these effects may be quite different from those produced in an animal fed a high sucrose diet only after weaning.