<p>This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p> <p>Restricted fetal growth is associated with increased
risk for the future development of Type 2 diabetes in
humans. The study aim was to assess the glucose tolerance
of old (seventeen months) male rats, which
were growth restricted in early life due to maternal
protein restriction during gestation and lactation. Rat
mothers were fed diets containing either 20% or 8%
protein and all offspring weaned onto a standard rat
diet. In old-age fasting plasma glucose concentrations
were significantly higher in the low protein offspring:
8.4 (1.3)mmol/l v. 5.3 (1.3)mmol/l (p = 0.005),
Areas under the curves were increased by 67% for
glucose (p = 0.01) and 81% for insulin (p = 0.01) in
these rats in intravenous glucose tolerance tests, suggesting
(a degree of) insulin resistance. These results
show that early growth retardation due to maternal
protein restriction leads to the development of diabetes
in old male rat offspring. The diabetes is predominantly
associated with insulin resistance.</p>
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Int J Exp Diabetes Res. 2001; 2(2):139-143