Short-term moderate diet restriction in adulthood can reverse oxidative, cardiovascular and metabolic alterations induced by postnatal overfeeding in mice

We aimed to determine whether moderate diet restriction could restore cardiac, oxidative and metabolic alterations induced by postnatal overfeeding (PNOF). Litters of C57BL/6 male mice were either maintained at 9 (normal litter, NL), or reduced to 3 (small litter, SL) in order to induce PNOF. At 6 months, half of the NL and SL mice were subjected to 20% calorie-restriction (CR: NLCR, SLCR) for one month, while the other half continued to eat ad libitum (AL: NLAL, SLAL). Six-month old SL mice presented overweight, fat accumulation, hyperleptinemia, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, increased cardiac ROS production and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). After CR, SL mice body weight was normalized; however, their fat mass and leptinemia were not decreased, glucose metabolism was improved and LVEF was increased. In SL mice, CR increased the cardiac mitochondrial respiratory rate and decreased cardiac ROS production. Hearts from SLCR mice showed better recovery and smaller postischemic infarct size. Intriguingly, no difference was observed between NLAL and NLCR mice for most of the parameters investigated. Short-term moderate CR not only normalized body weight in SL mice but also improved metabolic programming and reversed oxidative and cardiac dysfunction induced by PNOF.