Table 3.

Maternal weight and metabolic parameters at key milestones of the study and litter characteristics at birth, according to the maternal diet (control or high-fat) and the gavage treatment during pregnancy [fish oil or control (water)].

	Maternal control diet		Maternal high-fat diet
	Control	Fish oil	Control	Fish oil
n	8	9	9	8
Maternal weight (g)
Prior to diet allocation (day -10)	301 ± 6	298 ± 10	296 ± 5	303 ± 6
Mating (day 1)	310 ± 7	307 ± 10	322 ± 7	332 ± 12
End of pregnancy (day 22)	434 ± 6	444 ± 14	457 ± 16	445 ± 17
End of lactation (day 40)	342 ± 4	359 ± 13	368 ± 9†	360 ± 11
Gestational weight gain	40 ± 2	45 ± 2	42 ± 4	34 ± 3
Retroperitoneal fat (% of body weight at day 40)	1.2 ± 0.2	1.3 ± 0.2	1.6 ± 0.1†	1.2 ± 0.1#
Metabolic parameters (day 40)
Fasting glucose (mmol/l)	4.44 ± 0.17	4.56 ± 0.15	5.20 ± 0.32†	4.93 ± 0.18
Fasting insulin (pmol/l)	180 ± 19	323 ± 118	403 ± 91	332 ± 58
HOMA-IR	0.98 ± 0.09	1.84 ± 0.66	2.58 ± 0.58‡	2.01 ± 0.37
Triglycerides (mmol/l)	0.52 ± 0.03	0.47 ± 0.02	0.68 ± 0.05†	0.72 ± 0.05
Birth characteristics
Litter size (n)	11.8 ± 1.0	14.1 ± 0.9	13.7 ± 0.8	11.9 ± 1.1
Sex ratio (% male per litter)	45 ± 5	42 ± 4	57 ± 3†	50 ± 4
Weight of pups (g)	5.6 ± 0.3	5.6 ± 0.3	5.4 ± 0.2	6.2 ± 0.4*
Length of pups (mm)	47.7 ± 0.2	47.4 ± 0.2	46.7 ± 0.4	48.9 ± 0.2**

Data are means ± standard errors. ^‡p < 0.06 and ^†p < 0.05 for a maternal diet effect among controls; ^#p < 0.06, *p < 0.05, and **p < 0.01 for an effect of the gavage treatment between groups exposed to the same maternal diet.