Gluconeogenesis, Glucose Handling, and Structural Changes in Livers of the Adult Offspring of Rats Partially Deprived of Protein During Pregnancy

Maternal protein restriction is a model of fetal program-ming of adult glucose intolerance. Perfused livers of 48-h– starved adult offspring of rat dams fed 8 % protein diets during pregnancy and lactation produced more glucose from 6 mM lactate than did control livers from rats whose dams were fed 20 % protein. In control livers, a mean of 24% of the glucose formed from lactate in the periportal region of the lobule was taken up by the most distal perivenous cells; this distal perivenous uptake was greatly diminished in maternal low protein (MLP) livers, accounting for a ma-jor fraction of the increased glucose output of MLP livers. In control livers, the distal perivenous cells contained 40 % of the total glucokinase of the liver; this perivenous concentra-tion of glucokinase was greatly reduced in MLP livers. In