Overweight is gender-dependent in prenatal protein--calorie restricted adult rats acting on the blood pressure and the adverse cardiac remodeling

Postnatal heart remodeling was studied in rats submitted to prenatal protein--calorie restriction (R). Offspring were divided in four groups: control male (CM) and female (CF) vs. restricted male (RM) and female (RF) and lived 120 days. The offspring blood pressure (BP) and biometry were periodically analyzed. In the euthanasia day, the left ventricular (LV) mass index, the cardiomyocyte nuclei profile number (N[cmn]) (disector method), the cross-sectional cardiomyocyte area (A[cm]) and the stereology for intramyocardial arteries (ima) were estimated. Interactions between gender and prenatal nutritional conditions were tested with the two-way ANOVA. RM animals showed higher BP and greater body mass and smaller LV mass index than the other groups. N[cmn] and stereology parameters of ima were smaller, and A[cm] was greater in the R groups rats than in the C groups rats; these structural changes were only dependent of the prenatal nutritional condition but not gender-dependent. In conclusion: hypertension and body and cardiac growth were influenced by the interaction between gender and prenatal nutritional conditions, while cardiac remodeling seems to be only programmed by the adverse intrauterine environment.