Early redox imbalance is associated with liver dysfunction at weaning in overfed rats

Key points Childhood obesity is associated with precocious oxidative stress, which can contribute to future diseases. Early overfed rats have increased oxidative stress in liver and plasma at weaning. The model of litter size reduction causes adipocyte hypertrophy and lower PPARγ at weaning, suggesting a decrease in adipocyte proliferation. Abstract Neonatal overfeeding induced by litter size reduction leads to further obesity and other metabolic disorders, such as liver oxidative stress and microsteatosis at adulthood. We hypothesized that overfeeding causes an early redox imbalance at weaning, which could programme the animals to future liver dysfunction. Thus, we studied lipogenesis, adipogenesis, catecholamine status and oxidative balance in weaned overfed pups. To induce early overfeeding, litters were adjusted to three pups at the 3rd day of lactation (SL group). The control group contained 10 pups per litter until weaning (NL group). Peripheral autonomic nerve function was determined in vivo at 21 days old. Thereafter, pups were killed for further analysis. Differences were considered significant when P