Effect of early nutrition on adipose cellularity and pancreatic insulin release in the Zucker rat
Johnson, P.R.; Stern, J.S.; Greenwood, M.R.; Zucker, L.M.; Hirsch, J.
Journal of Nutrition 103(5): 738-743
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-3166 PMID: 4710086 Document Number: 57911
Zucker obese (fafa) and nonobese (Fafa) male rats were over- or underfed before weaning by placement in large or small litters, respectively. During the first 30 days of life the nutritional effect, and not the genotype, was the predominant influence on the animals' growth. By 12 weeks of age, genotypic differences became the major determinant of bodyweight. While early overfeeding significantly increased adipocyte number in both obese and nonobese rats, early underfeeding reduced adipocyte number in the nonobese only. The release of immunoreactive insulin (IRI) from isolated pancreatic islets was a function of genotype and was unifluenced by the early nutritional treatment. Obese rats released 3 to 4 times as much IRI as did their nonobese controls.