Brielle Rosa

Citation

Thesis Title
Maternal Exercise During Pregnancy Affects the Rat Musculoskeletal System and Indicies of Energy Metabolism

Read article at Massey Research Online:

The environment experienced by an organism during development can have lasting health consequences. Maternal exercise during pregnancy may have long-term effects on offspring health and disease risk in adult life. Using the rat as a model organism, Dr Rosa first established a type of exercise that did not cause a potentially confounding stress response in the exercised animals. She then examined the effects of that exercise during pregnancy on the musculoskeletal system and energy metabolism of the adult offspring. Her results provide the first evidence that maternal exercise during pregnancy has long-lasting effects on offspring bone and body composition, and that these effects are sex-dependent. This work highlights the ability of even moderate influences during gestation to affect development and supports the concept of the skeleton as an organ that can be permanently altered by developmental programming.

Supervisors
Professor Elwyn Firth
Dr Mark Vickers
Professor Hugh Blair