In critical periods of body development, environmental stimuli such as physical exercise and diet may influence on placental flow and fetal somatic growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of physical training and malnutrition during pregnancy on the skull axis of newborn rats. Male Wistar rats were divided according to manipulation of their mothers: untrained control (Cf, n = 25), trained (Tf, n = 25), untrained and malnourished (Mf, n = 25), trained and malnourished (TMf, n = 25). Trained mothers (T and TM) were submitted to 8 weeks of moderate physical training before and during pregnancy (60min/day, 5 days/wk to 65% of VO2max). Malnourished mothers (M and TM) received a low protein diet during pregnancy (8% casein) while the nourished (C and T) were fed with normal diet (17% casein). On the 1st postnatal day, the number of pups born per litter, litter weight and birth weight, latero-lateral axis of skull (LLAS) and antero-posterior axis of skull (APAS), longitudinal axis of the body (LA) and length of tail (LT) of each neonate were verified. On the 3rd day after delivery, the brains were extracted and weighed. During pregnancy, the females of the T and M groups showed lower weight gain compared with group C at 3rd week (C = 34.4 ± 1.3, T = 30.7 ± 0.60, M = 25.8 ± 0.78, TM = 29.9 ± 0.83). The malnourished group had lower birth weight in relation to their respective controls (Cf = 6.3 ± 0.1, Tf = 6.3 ± 0.1, Mf = 4.7 ± 0.07; TMf = 5.0 ± 0.06). Group Mf presented measures of LLAS (Cf = 9.8 ± 0.06, Tf = 9.8 ± 0.05, Mf = 9.2 ± 0.04; TMf = 9.6 ± 0.13) and EAPC (Cf = 18.1 ± 0.1, Tf = 18.2 ± 0.1, Mf = 17.5 ± 0.1, TMf = 18.0 ± 0.2) lower compared to controls. Based on the results, it can be concluded that malnutrition during fetal period changed somatic development, while physical training positively influenced on the skull axis of the concepts.
craniometry; physical exertion; protein malnutrition; fetal development
