Sex-dependent effects of prenatal food and protein restriction on offspring physiology in rats and mice: systematic review and meta-analyses.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Males and females may experience different effects of early-life adversity on life-long health. One hypothesis is that male foetuses invest more in foetal growth and relatively less in placental growth, and that this makes them susceptible to poor nutrition in utero, particularly if nutrition is reduced part-way through gestation.

Objectives

Our objectives were to examine whether (1) food and/ or protein restriction in rats and mice has consistent sex-dependent effects, (2) sex-dependency differs between types of outcomes, and (3) males are more severely affected when restriction starts part-way through gestation.

Data sources

PubMed and Web of Science were searched to identify eligible studies.

Study eligibility criteria

Eligible studies described c

SUBMITTER: Christians JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7871651 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature