Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

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Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Typescript, etc. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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Since glucose is the principal substrate used during exercise and is also the main metabolic fuel for the developing embryo and fetus, exercising during pregnancy could induce a competition for fuel between fetus and exercising muscles, perturbing glucose homeostasis. To determine if exercise during pregnancy would predispose the fetus to increased risk, pregnant rats were randomly assigned to a low (4%), moderate (12%) or high (60%) carbohydrate diet, and either rested or exercised on a rodent treadmill at a moderate (15.5 m/min) or high (24.3 m/min) intensity from day 16-21 of gestation. When food intake was controlled for in the statistical model as a covariate, the level of maternal dietary carbohydrate significantly influenced maternal liver weight, heart glycogen, insulin, amniotic fluid glucose and lactate, but not maternal plasma glucose, liver or skeletal muscle glycogens. In contrast, a restricted level of maternal dietary carbohydrate, lowered fetal weight as well as fetal plasma glucose, insulin and liver glycogen. Exercise intensity significantly altered only maternal lactate levels. The results indicate that acute exercise during pregnancy can have detrimental effects on fetal development only if carbohydrate energy is restricted. Otherwise, adequate carbohydrate in the maternal diet appears to protect the fetus.

Exercise and dietary carbohydrate restriction during pregnancy independently reduce maternal weight gain and offspring survival. It was hypothesized that the combined stress of exercise and dietary carbohydrate restriction would decrease offspring survival more than the independent effects. Within the exercise and sedentary groups pregnant rats were randomly assigned to be fed either 60%, 40%, or 20% dietary carbohydrate ad libitum. No statistical interactions were found between exercise and diet. Main effects were found for litter weight, maternal feed intake and weight gain, but not for litter size, pup birthweight, or pup survival in the first two days postpartum. Exercised rats gained less weight and ate more on a per gram body weight basis than sedentary rats. Rats fed carbohydrate restricted diets ate less and gained less weight than the rats fed 60% carbohydrate. These results demonstrate that the neonatal rat is not vulnerable to the effects of moderate maternal exercise and carbohydrate restriction during pregnancy.

Dietary carbohydrate during pregnancy is essential but whether this requirement is specific to glucose or if fructose could substitute for glucose in the diet of pregnant rat dams was investigated. It was concluded that the carbohydrate requirement for the rat during pregnancy is not specific to glucose and the level, not the type, of carbohydrate was critical. The potential toxicity of high fructose diets was also investigated. Dams fed high fructose had significantly higher liver weights than dams fed high glucose while other toxic indicators were not affected. A third aspect was the comparison of isocaloric, low carbohydrate diets containing different sources of 4% glucose equivalents: glucose, fructose or lipid-glycerol. Fructose and lipid-glycerol were not adequate substitutes for glucose. The measurement of amniotic fluid glucose, which increased as either dietary glucose or fructose increased in the maternal diet may be a new, accessible nutritional indicator of carbohydrate status.