Jelena Anastasovska1, Nachiket Abhay Nadkarni1, Po-Wah So2, Neena Modi3, Elizabeth Louise Thomas1, Gary Frost4, Jimmy D. Bell1
1Metabolic and Molecular Imaging Group, Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK; 2Biological Imaging Centre, Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK; 3Section of Neonatal Medicine, Chelsea and Westminster Campus, Imperial College London, London, UK; 4Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Metabolic Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK
The effect of nutrition at specific stages of development has been investigated using different diets during fetal and neonatal growth. In this study, we investigate the effects of low protein diet during either pregnancy or lactation in combination with a hypercaloric post-lactation diet, on lipid content and distribution and appetite regulation, in the adult offspring using MRI and MRS. We show that the stage of early life at which undernutrition occurs has significant effects in determining the adult phenotype. Low protein in the early post-natal period leads to an improvement in adiposity and lipid metabolism, despite an increased appetite.