Maternal undernutrition during early pregnancy inhibits postnatal growth of the tibia in the female offspring of rats by alteration of chondrogenesis

[Display omitted] •Malnutrition on early embryonic stage affects postnatal tibial growth in female rats.•Response to IGF1 on chondrocyte proliferation was attenuated by malnutrition.•Type II collagen production of chondrocytes was reduced by malnutrition.•Chondrocyte-related gene expression might be altered by transactivator gene Sp1. Epidemiological research has suggested that birth weights are correlated with adult leg lengths. However, the relationship between prenatal undernutrition (UN) and postnatal leg growth remains controversial. We investigated the effects of UN during early pregnancy on postnatal hindlimb growth and determined whether early embryonic malnutrition affects the functions of postnatal chondrocytes in rats. Undernourished Wistar dams were fed 40% of the daily intake of rats in the control groups from gestational days 5.5–11.5, and femurs, tibias, and trunks or spinal columns were morphologically measured at birth and at 16 weeks of age in control and undernourished offspring of both sexes. We evaluated cell proliferation and differentiation of cultured chondrocytes derived from neonatal tibias of female offspring and determined chondrocyte-related gene expression levels in neonatal epiphysis and embryonic limb buds. Tibial lengths of undernourished female, but not male, offspring were longer at birth and shorter at 16 weeks of age (p