Differences in iron intake during pregnancy influence in trainability response of male rat offspring

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if different concentrations of iron in diets during pregnancy would interfere in the aerobic and anaerobic performance of the offspring, observed during 8-week swimming training and measured by lactate minimum test. METHODS: Pregnant rats were divided into four groups with different dietary iron concentrations: standard (40mg/kg), supplementation (100mg/kg), restriction since weaning, and restriction only during pregnancy (4mg/kg). After birth, the offspring were assigned to their respective groups (Standard Offspring, Supplementation Offspring, Restriction Offspring or Restriction Offspring 2). The lactate minimum test was performed at three time points: before starting exercise training, after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks of exercise training. RESULTS: The Restriction Offspring Group had a significant reduction in the concentration of lactate minimum and in swimming time to exhaustion, after 4 and 8 weeks of training as compared to before training. Therefore, the results showed the Restriction Offspring Group was not able to maintain regularity during training in lactate minimum tests. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested the Restriction Offspring Group showed a marked decrease in its performance parameters, which may have occurred due to iron restriction.