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.