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Increased Maternal Nutrition Increases Leptin Expression in Perirenal and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in the Postnatal Lamb

Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group (B.S.M., I.C.M.), Sansom Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, The University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia; and Discipline of Physiology (J.A.D.), School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Beverly Muhlhausler, Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group, Sansom Research Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia. E-mail: beverly.muhlhausler{at}unisa.edu.au.

The present study tested the hypothesis that exposure to an increased level of maternal nutrition before birth results in altered expression of adipogenic, lipogenic, and adipokine genes in adipose tissue in early postnatal life. Pregnant ewes were fed either at or approximately 50% above maintenance energy requirements during late pregnancy, and quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-, lipoprotein lipase (LPL), glycerol-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G3PDH), adiponectin, and leptin mRNA expression in perirenal (PAT) and sc adipose tissue (SCAT) in the offspring on postnatal d 30. Relative SCAT mass was higher in lambs of well-fed ewes (40.0 ± 4.0 vs. 22.8 ± 3.3 g/kg, P < 0.05) and was directly related to plasma insulin in the first 24 h after birth and to G3PDH and LPL expression. The expression of leptin mRNA in both the SCAT and PAT depots was higher (P < 0.05) in lambs of well-fed ewes. PPAR adiponectin, LPL, and G3PDH mRNA expression were not, however, different between well-fed and control groups in either depot. Relative PPAR expression in SCAT was directly related to plasma insulin concentrations in the first 24 h after birth (r² = 0.23; P < 0.05), and G3PDH and LPL expressions were also positively correlated with PPAR expression (r² = 0.27; P < 0.05). We have demonstrated that exposure to increased prenatal nutrition increases leptin expression at 1 month of age in both PAT and SCAT. The results of this study provide evidence that the nutritional environment before and immediately after birth can influence the development of adipose tissue in early postnatal life.