Recent human cohort studies reported positive associations between organic food consumption and a lower incidence of obesity, cancer, and several other diseases. However, there are very few animal and human dietary intervention studies that provide supporting evidence or a mechanistic understanding of these associations. Here we report results from a two-generation, dietary intervention study with male Wistar rats to identify the effects of feeds made from organic and conventional crops on growth, hormonal, and immune system parameters that are known to affect the risk of a number of chronic, non-communicable diseases in animals and humans. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to separate the effects of contrasting crop protection methods (use or non-use of synthetic chemical pesticides) and fertilizers (mineral nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilizers vs. manure use) applied in conventional and organic crop production. Conventional, pesticide-based crop protection resulted in significantly lower fiber, polyphenol, flavonoid, and lutein, but higher lipid, aldicarb, and diquat concentrations in animal feeds. Conventional, mineral NPK-based fertilization resulted in significantly lower polyphenol, but higher cadmium and protein concentrations in feeds. Feed composition differences resulting from the use of pesticides and/or mineral NPK-fertilizer had a significant effect on feed intake, weight gain, plasma hormone, and immunoglobulin concentrations, and lymphocyte proliferation in both generations of rats and in the second generation also on the body weight at weaning. Results suggest that relatively small changes in dietary intakes of (a) protein, lipids, and fiber, (b) toxic and/or endocrine-disrupting pesticides and metals, and (c) polyphenols and other antioxidants (resulting from pesticide and/or mineral NPK-fertilizer use) had complex and often interactive effects on endocrine, immune systems and growth parameters in rats. However, the physiological responses to contrasting feed composition/intake profiles differed substantially between the first and second generations of rats. This may indicate epigenetic programming and/or the generation of "adaptive" phenotypes and should be investigated further.

Department of Animal Physiology Faculty of Biology University of Warsaw 02 096 Warsaw Poland

Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition Institute of Chemical Technology UCT Prague 166 28 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Haematology Oslo University Hospital 0424 Oslo Norway

Department of Nutrition Institute of Basic Medical Sciences University of Oslo 0372 Oslo Norway

Department of Sustainable Crop and Food Protection Food and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Agriculture Universita Catollica del Sacro Cuore 1 29122 Piacenza Italy

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Sabanci University 34956 Istanbul Turkey

Human Nutrition Research Centre Institute of Cellular Medicine Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH UK

Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences Warsaw University of Life Sciences Nowoursynowska 159c 02 776 Warsaw Poland

Laboratory of Neurobiology Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences Pasteura 3 02 093 Warsaw Poland

Nafferton Ecological Farming Group Food and Rural Development School of Agriculture Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear NE1 7RU UK

NatMed Southern Cross University Military Rd Lismore NSW 2480 Australia

SCU Plant Science Southern Cross University Military Rd Lismore NSW 2480 Australia

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