Maternal protein restriction promotes cardiac disorders by disrupting heart developmental morphophysiology in young male offspring rats

In recent years, cardiovascular diseases have been one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Epidemiological and experimental studies have linked adverse intrauterine conditions with an susceptibility to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in subsequent generations, a concept related to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Here, we evaluated the maternal protein restriction (MPR), and its harmful effects on the cardiac morphophysiology of offspring in early life. During gestation and lactation, the pregnant rats were divided into two groups: Control (CTR), which received a normoprotein diet (17% protein), and Gestational and Lactational Low-Protein (GLLP), which received a hypoprotein diet (6% protein). At postnatal day 21, the offspring were euthanized. There was a decrease in serum levels of IGF1, an increase in testosterone, and a decrease in several phenotypic parameters in the heart, such as the size of cardiomyocytes and their nuclei, collagen, reticular and elastic fibers, and mast cells in the GLLP group. We observed that MPR led to electrical disorders in the heart (bradycardia), in addition to impacting angiogenic proteins (high Aquaporin1 and PECAM-1), and proteins associated with the antioxidant system (low Peroxiredoxin 4 and high GSTpi expressions) in the GLLP group. These adverse effects early in life increase the risk of pathophysiological remodeling of the heart, with the potential for hypertension, hypertrophy, and cardiovascular disease later in life.