Lard-rich and canola oil-rich high-fat diets during pregnancy promote rats’ offspring neurodevelopmental delay and behavioral disorders.

Publication date: Available online 30 October 2019Source: Physiology & BehaviorAuthor(s): T.S. Souto, F.S.N. Nakao, C.A. Giriko, C.T. dias, A.I.P Cheberle, R.H. lambertucci, C. Mendes-da-SilvaAbstractHigh-fat diets (HFDs) during pregnancy may damage the neural development and emotional behavior of rat offspring. Therefore, we investigated the neurobehavioral development of rat offspring who were fed a control diet (CD) or an HFD with lard (HFD-lard) or canola oil (HFD-canola oil), during pregnancy. Offspring's neurodevelopment (somatic growth, physical maturation, and ontogenesis reflex) was assessed while they were suckling. The rat's levels of depression, anxiety, and aggression were assessed through forced swimming, elevation plus a maze or open field test, and a foot-shock test on postnatal days 60, 80, and 110, respectively. Maternal HFDs with lard or canola oil promoted rats’ offspring during suckling. They had reduced body weight and growth, physical maturation delay (auditory conduit and eyes opening to both groups HFDs-lard and canola oil; ear unfolding and incisor eruption only HFD-lard) and an ontogenesis reflex (palm grasp/vibrissa placing to both groups HFDs-lard and canola oil, and free-fall righting only in HFD-lard). Negative geotaxis resulted in the faster development of the HFD-lard offspring. Furthermore, in adulthood, the HDFs-offspring were more likely to be overweight, have shorter swimming times in the swim test, greater susceptibility to anxiety with...
Source: Physiology and Behavior - Category: Physiology Source Type: research