Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41481450›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2026

Distinct macronutrient ratios optimize offspring survival, growth, and maternal glucose tolerance across mouse reproduction.

Fay Morland, Melany H Malcolm, Laura Wilkinson, Christine Neyt, David R Grattan, Amanda E Brandon, Stephen J Simpson, Alistair M Senior, Samantha M Solon-Biet, Tracy L Perry and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Ovary-Derived Signals Align Protein Appetite with Oogenesis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Fay MorlandCentre for Neuroendocrinology and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Otago 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-3037-2118
Melany H MalcolmCentre for Neuroendocrinology and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Otago 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0009-0009-2215-4004
Laura WilkinsonCentre for Neuroendocrinology and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Otago 9016, New Zealand.
Christine NeytCentre for Neuroendocrinology and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Otago 9016, New Zealand.
David R GrattanCentre for Neuroendocrinology and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Otago 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0001-5606-2559
Amanda E BrandonCharles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4996-7189
Stephen J SimpsonCharles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0256-7687
Alistair M SeniorCharles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-9805-7280
Samantha M Solon-BietCharles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia.
Tracy L PerryDivision of Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0001-5140-4468
Michael GarrattCentre for Neuroendocrinology and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Otago 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-9383-3313

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pregnancy and lactation are reproductive periods that require major energy and nutrient investment by the mother. Dietary perturbations over reproduction can impair offspring development and increase the risk of metabolic disease for the mother. However, how the intake of specific macronutrients, independent of total calorie intake, influence maternal reproductive investment and metabolic health remains poorly understood. To understand the role of protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake in influencing these parameters, we fed mice one of ten isocaloric diets that differed systematically in their macronutrient make-up. We allowed females to breed and observed striking effects of different macronutrients on fetal development, with protein intake having strong positive effects on offspring survival, accompanied by major shifts in the morphological structure of the placenta and placental lactogen production. However, maternal glucose tolerance was strongly impaired by high protein intake during pregnancy, with reproductive females more susceptible to the effects of these macronutrients than nonpregnant animals. Strikingly, metabolic effects were reversed after lactation, with mothers developing a resilience to the chronic effects of protein and fat intake on glucose tolerance observed in virgin animals. During lactation, we also observed that offspring development was optimized by a different ratio of macronutrients compared to during pregnancy. These results highlight the importance of optimizing macronutrient, particularly protein, intake to specific levels during pregnancy, ensuring a balance that maintains maternal glucose tolerance while providing sufficient nutrients to ensure healthy offspring growth and survival.

Indexed as

GlucoseMaternal Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaNutrientsReproductionAnimalsDietary ProteinsFemaleFetal DevelopmentGlucose Tolerance TestLactationMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLPlacentaPregnancyDietary ProteinsGlucoseNutrientsdietlactationmetabolismpregnancyreproduction

Identifiers

PMID41481450
PMCPMC12773756

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.