Figure 1. Experimental groups.

Sprague Dawley dams were fed chow or HFD prior to mating and during gestation and lactation. The offspring were raised in either normal (12) or small (3) size litters. The first letter represents maternal diet and the second letter litter size. At weaning, n = 12–13 rats were sampled from CN, CS, HN and HS groups. After weaning half the remaining rats from each of these groups were fed either chow or HFD, yielding 8 groups, each comprising 10–12 rats .