Aerobic exercise acts differentially on proteins from glucose and glycogen pathways in the SOL and PL muscles of offspring rats submitted to a low-protein maternal diet.

We assess the effects of aerobic exercise on the soleus and plantaris muscles in adult rats submitted to maternal protein restriction (MPR) during pregnancy and lactation. Male offspring born from dams fed with control (17%-control) or low protein diets (6%-restricted) were randomly assigned to untrained or aerobic exercise, and morphological, biochemical, molecular, and proteomic analyses were performed. The proteome analysis showed many proteins involved with muscle energy metabolism, with emphasis on the glycolysis (ALDOA, ENO1, PGAM2, and TPI1) and glycogen (PYGM) pathways. MPR decreased ALDOA, TPI1, ENO1, PGAM2, and PYGM expression and increased glycogen content in Soleus (SOL); Plantaris (PL) increased PYGM, ALDOA, GAPDH, PKM, and TPI1 protein expression. Aerobic exercise (AE) normalized the glycemic index in restricted animals and increased the expression of proteins PYGM, ALDOA, ENO1, PGAM2, and TPI1, also decreasing glycogen content in the SOL. In the PL, aerobic exercise increased PYGM, ALDOA, GAPDH, PKM, and TPI1 proteins without a change in muscle glycogen content. Our study demonstrates that MPR and AE promoted differential muscle-specific adaptations, and aerobic exercise can represent a way to attenuate early muscle morphophysiological and metabolic changes in offspring rats submitted to MPR.