
Meeting Abstract
Energy intake, storage, and expenditure can be programmed by the energetic status of the mother. Maternal programming is most often studied in the context of human obesity and diabetes, but maternal programming may play a role in the expression of adaptive traits, especially those that show a high degree of plasticity. In these cases, the energetic environment experienced by the mother can prepare the offspring to be more likely to survive in those particular environments. Syrian hamsters might be particularly susceptible to maternal programming by environmental energy because pregnant Syrian hamsters fail to increase their food intake above pre-pregnant levels and lose up to 40% of their body lipid content during gestation. To study the effects of maternal energy availability on offspring traits, ad libitum daily food intake was measured in adult female hamsters. All females were mated and pregnant hamsters were either: 1) allowed unlimited access to rodent chow placed inside their cages for easy access, 2) limited to the pre-pregnant daily intake placed in the food hopper outside the cage (which required them to expend energy to gain access to the food) for the final 2/3 of gestation. Food-limited females gave birth to pups with significantly lower body weights at birth, but significantly higher daily food intake, weaning weight, and NPY immunoreactivity in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus as adults. Thus, even subtle differences in the pregnant mother’s energy expenditure during food acquisition can have long-term effects on offspring energy intake, storage, and expenditure.