The Effect of Diet- induced Obesity on Reproductive Capacity of the Rat

Objective To probe into the effect of diet-induced obesity on reproductive capacity of SD rat. Method 60 female SD rats aged 6 weeks were fed with high-fat and high-calorie feed for 2 weeks,and then 20 obesityprone rats were selected according to their weight as the obesity group and other 20 rats were selected as the control group. The rats in the obesity group were fed with high-fat and high-calorie feed for 6 weeks to induce obesity and the rats in the control group were fed with ordinary rat feed. Before mating the body weights were measured and Lee's index was calculated,and the levels of total cholesterol( TC),triglyceride( TG),high density lipoprotein cholesterol( HDL-C),low density lipoprotein cholesterol( LDL-C),leptin and estradiol( E2) in serum were determined. These female rats were mated with the male rats for one week,and the pregnancy rate and litter size were checked. Result The pregnancy rate in rats of the obesity group was significantly lower than that in the control group( P 0. 01). After the feeding for six weeks,the weight and Lee's index of the obesity group rats were significantly higher than those of the control group( P 0. 01),and the serum levels of TC,TG,LDL-C and leptin in the obesity group were significantly higher than those in the control group( P 0. 01). Conclusion The high-fat and high-calorie diet-induced rat declined in reproductive capacity,which may be related to the elevation in the serum level of leptin.