Association between intrauterine mild hyperglycemia and post-natal high-fat diet with adiponectin and AMPK pathway genes

We investigated the long-term effects of intrauterine mild hyperglycemia and a postnatal high-fat diet on the glucose metabolism of adult offspring, and explored the role of adiponectin on hepatic gluconeogenesis. Twenty-one pregnant Wistar rats were randomly divided into an intrauterine hyperglycemia group (group D, n = 14) and a control group (group C, n = 7).

Offspring were divided into four groups according to intrauterine blood glucose level and post-weaning dietary patterns (high-fat diet groups: DF and CF or normal diet groups: DN and CN, n = 8 per group). The average birth weights of group D offspring were higher than for group C. In the DF rats, low adiponectin mRNA expression in perirenal and epididymal fat was significantly positively correlated with low hepatic AdipoR1 mRNA expression and significantly correlated with high hepatic PEPCK, G-6-Pase, and PGC-1α mRNA levels.