Postnatal Catch-Up Growth Programs Telomere Dynamics and Glucose Intolerance in Low Birth Weight Mice

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 7; p. 3657
• Main Authors: Pericuesta, Eva, Gutiérrez-Arroyo, Julia L, Sánchez-Calabuig, Maria J, Gutiérrez-Adán, Alfonso
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adults; Aging; Animals; Birth weight; Body Weight; Body weight gain; Brain - metabolism; Diabetes mellitus; Disease; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Females; fetal growth restriction; Fetal Growth Retardation - metabolism; Fetal Growth Retardation - physiopathology; Fetuses; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gestational age; Glucose; Glucose Intolerance - etiology; Glucose tolerance; Growth factors; Hypotheses; inbred; Inbreeding; Insulin; Insulin-like growth factor I; Insulin-like growth factor II; Insulin-like growth factor II receptors; Insulin-like growth factors; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - metabolism; Intolerance; Liver; Liver - metabolism; Low birth weight; Male; Males; Metabolic syndrome; Mice; Muscles; Muscles - metabolism; Nutrition research; Obesity; outbred; Pregnancy; Premature birth; Proteins; sex; Signal transduction; Tattoos; Telomere Homeostasis; telomere shortening; Telomeres; telomere shortening; fetal growth restriction; inbred; outbred; sex
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22073657

Low birth weight and rapid postnatal weight gain are independent predictors of obesity and diabetes in adult life, yet the molecular events involved in this process remain unknown. In inbred and outbred mice, this study examines natural intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in relation to body weight, telomere length (TL), glucose tolerance, and growth factor gene ( , , , , and ) mRNA expression levels in the brain, liver, and muscle at 2- and 10 days of age and then at 3- and 9 months of age. At birth, ~15% of the animals showed IUGR, but by 3 and 9 months, half of these animals had regained the same weight as controls without IUGR (recuperated group). At 10 days, there was no difference in TL between animals undergoing IUGR and controls. However, by 3 and 9 months of age, the recuperated animals had shorter TL than the control and IUGR-non recuperated animals and also showed glucose intolerance. Further, compared to controls, and growth factor mRNA expression was lower in Day 2-IUGR mice, while and mRNA expression was higher in D10-IUGR animals. Moreover, at 3 months of age, only in the recuperated group were brain and liver , , , and expression levels higher than in the control and IUGR-non-recuperated groups. These data indicate that catch-up growth but not IUGR per se affects TL and glucose tolerance, and suggest a role in this latter process of insulin/insulin-like growth signaling pathway gene expression during early development.