Effects of gestational protein restriction followed by hyperlipic diet exposure on the offspring rat Wistar ventral prostate

Abstract

The rapid increase in the incidence of overweight and obesity has been attributed to the wide availability of high-fat foods, combined with changes in lifestyle. However, recent studies suggest that changes during development can be among the main causes of the obesity epidemic. The intrauterine growth restriction increases the risk of obesity in adulthood. Recent studies have shown that obesity alters the levels of steroid hormones influencing the development of prostatic lesions both in humans and in experimental models. Thus, considering the data showing that gestational protein restriction increases the incidence of obesity in the offspring, the goal of this project is to study the effects of protein restriction during pregnancy in males, subjected or not to caloric overload on the ventral prostate of Wistar rats. Male rats whose mothers were fed with normal or restricted protein diet during pregnancy received normal or high-fat diet from the 8th week of life were used in this study. After eight weeks of intake different diets, ventral prostates of different experimental groups will be evaluate by histological techniques using hematoxylin & eosin and Picrosirius, immunohistochemical for Ki67, AR and IGF - 1, biochemical of zymography to assess the activity of MMPs 2 and 9 and Western blotting for AR and IGF- 1. The results will help to understand the effects of fetal programming and obesity on prostate morphophysiology.