Metabolic disorders, like diabetes, as well as maternal diet, alter nutrient availability in utero, inducing adaptations in the offspring. Whether the effects of maternal hyperglycemia are modulated by diet, however, has yet to be explored. In the current study, we examined this issue by giving females rats, treated neonatally with STZ to induce mild hyperglycemia, and control littermates either ad libitum access to standard chow (Control n = 17; STZ n = 16) or standard chow and snacks (Control-snack n = 18; STZ-snack n = 19) (potato chips and a red fruit-flavored sucrose syrup solution 1.5%) throughout pregnancy and lactation. We hypothesized that the maternal glucose intolerance typically seen in female rats treated neonatally with STZ would be exacerbated by snack intake, and that the combination of snack intake and STZ treatment would lead to alterations in maternal behavior and offspring development. Maternal body weight and food intake were measured daily through pregnancy and lactation and litter weight throughout lactation. At birth, litter size, offspring weight, body length, and anogenital distance were obtained and offspring were classified according to their weight. Measures of nursing and retrieval behavior, as well as exploration in the open field and the elevated plus-maze were also recorded. As predicted, snack intake tended to aggravate the glucose intolerance of STZ-treated rats during pregnancy. Both Control and STZ-treated females that had access to snacks ate more calories and fat, but less carbohydrate and protein than females having access to chow alone. Overall, STZ-treated dams gave birth to fewer pups. Chow-fed STZ females gave birth to a greater proportion of large for pregnancy age pups, whereas dams in the Control-snack group gave birth to a greater proportion of small pups. The birth weight classification of pups born to STZ-snack rats, however, resembled that of the Control chow-fed females. Although all litters gained weight during lactation, litters from snack-fed dams gained less weight regardless of maternal hyperglycemia and did not show catch-up growth by weaning. Overall, STZ rats spent more time nest building, whereas the average inter milk ejection interval was higher in snack-fed females. STZ-snack dams retrieved the complete litter faster than dams in the other groups. Together, these data suggest that when mild hyperglycemic females are given access to snacks throughout pregnancy and lactation their intake is similar to that of Control females given snack access. The combination of hyperglycemia and snack access tended to decrease glucose tolerance in pregnancy, and normalized birth weight classification, but produced few other effects that were not seen as a function of snack intake or hyperglycemia alone. Since birth weight is a strong predictor of health issues, future studies will further investigate offspring behavioral and metabolic outcomes later in life.

代谢紊乱，如糖尿病，以及母亲的饮食，会改变子宫内的营养供应，诱导后代适应。然而，母亲高血糖的影响是否受饮食调节还有待探索。在当前的研究中，我们通过给予雌性大鼠、用 STZ 进行新生儿治疗以诱导轻度高血糖，并随意控制同窝仔鼠来检查这个问题获得标准食物（对照 n = 17；STZ n = 16）或标准食物和零食（对照小吃 n = 18；STZ-小吃 n = 19）（薯片和红色水果味蔗糖糖浆溶液 1.5%）整个孕期和哺乳期。我们假设，通常在接受 STZ 治疗的雌性大鼠中常见的母体葡萄糖耐受不良会因零食摄入而加剧，并且零食摄入和 STZ 治疗相结合会导致母体行为和后代发育的改变。孕期和哺乳期每天测量母亲体重和食物摄入量，以及整个哺乳期的窝重。出生时，获得窝产仔数、后代体重、体长和肛门生殖器距离，并根据后代的体重进行分类。护理和检索行为的措施，还记录了在开阔场地和高架十字迷宫中的探索。正如预测的那样，零食摄入往往会加重妊娠期间接受 STZ 治疗的大鼠的葡萄糖耐受不良。与单独吃食物的女性相比，可以吃零食的对照组和接受 STZ 治疗的女性摄入的卡路里和脂肪更多，但碳水化合物和蛋白质的摄入量更少。总体而言，经过 STZ 处理的母猪产下的幼崽较少。饲料喂养的 STZ 雌性产下更大比例的大型妊娠幼崽，而控制零食组的水坝产下更大比例的小型幼崽。然而，STZ 零食大鼠出生的幼崽的出生体重分类与对照饲料喂养的雌性相似。虽然所有的窝在哺乳期都会增加体重，无论母体是否高血糖，零食喂养的母猪的窝体重增加较少，并且断奶后没有出现追赶性增长。总体而言，STZ 大鼠花费更多时间筑巢，而吃零食的雌性的平均排乳间隔更高。STZ-snack 水坝比其他组中的水坝更快地回收完整的垃圾。总之，这些数据表明，当轻度高血糖女性在整个怀孕和哺乳期间获得零食时，她们的摄入量与获得零食的对照女性相似。高血糖和零食摄入相结合往往会降低妊娠期的葡萄糖耐量，并使出生体重分类正常化，但几乎不会产生其他影响，而这些影响不会被视为零食摄入或高血糖单独的函数。由于出生体重是健康问题的有力预测指标，