Effect of Sucrose Feeding during Pregnancy on Rat Maternal and Fetal Liver Lipid and Glycogen Metabolism

This investigation concerns the effects of the ingestion during pregnancy of a sucrose diet compared with a dextrin diet on the lipid and glycogen metabolism in the liver of pregnant rats and their fetuses at days 15 and 19 of gestation. At the two time points, the pregnant rats fed with the sucrose diet had higher serum glucose and triglyceride concentrations. On day 15 of pregnancy, the hepatic triglyceride, total, and esterified cholesterol concentrations were higher in the sucrose-fed rats than in the dextrin-fed rat, but by day 19, the triglyceride and esterified cholesterol concentrations only increased in the sucrose-fed rats. In the liver of 15-day fetuses from dams fed with the sucrose diet, the concentrations of triglyceride, total, free and esterified cholesterol increased, whereas in the liver of 19-day fetuses the concentration of all the lipid fractions decreased. The hepatic fatty acid synthase activity and the 3 H 2 O incorporation into hepatic lipids and glycogen increased in the sucrose-fed rats at days 15 and 19 of pregnancy and in the liver of 19-day fetuses. These results suggest that sucrose feeding to pregnant rats causes an alteration of the hepatic lipid metabolism in them and in their fetus, associated with the changes in carbohydrate metabolism.