GLYCEMIC HOMEOSTASIS OF SMALL AND NORMAL LITTER DURING RAT ADOLESCENCE

Abstract

Childhood obesity has become a public health concern, as it leads to cardiometabolic
disorders. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept shows that
insults in critical windows of development can program the individual for both health and
disease. In the neonatal supernutrition model, known as small litter (SL), the litter is reduced
to 3 animals per dam, mimicking obesity, while the normal litter (NL) control animals have
only 9 animals per dam. The period of adolescence in SL animals is still little explored, it is
known that in this phase there are many hormonal changes, but it is still not known how the
behavior is in relation to glycemia, so our objective was to evaluate glycemia during the
tolerance test oral glucose in NL and SL animals during adolescence. It is observed that the
NL and SL animals show no difference in glucose tolerance at 45 and 60 days. However, both
groups are glucose intolerant when compared to their respective controls in adult life. We
conclude that there is glucose intolerance during adolescence regardless of the nutritional
insult.