The present study aimed to investigate the response of the phosphatidylinositol 3‑kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway and gluconeogenic enzymes in intrauterine growth‑restricted rats to dietary L‑arginine (L‑Arg) supplementation during the lactation period early in life. Pregnant Sprague‑Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group (CON), an intrauterine growth restriction group (IUGR) and an L‑Arg group (LA). The pregnant rats in the CON group were fed a 21% protein diet, and those in the IUGR and LA groups were fed a 10% low protein diet, and all rats were fed a 21% protein diet after delivery. Water was available ad libitum to the pregnant rats during the 21‑day lactation period, and the water provided to the LA group included 200 mg/kg/day L‑Arg. Blood glucose, serum insulin, homeostasis model of assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA‑IR), PI3K and protein kinase B (PKB) protein expression, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose‑6‑phosphatase (G‑6‑Pase) mRNA expression in the offspring rats were measured postnatally at 1, 3 and 8 weeks. No significant difference in blood glucose, serum insulin and HOMA‑IR were identified at any time point among the three groups. PI3K and PKB expression was lower in the IUGR group offspring compared with that in the CON group offspring, but both were increased by dietary L‑Arg supplementation. PEPCK mRNA and G‑6‑Pase mRNA expression levels in the offspring of the IUGR group were higher compared with those in the CON group but were downregulated following L‑Arg supplementation. These results suggest that dietary L‑Arg supplementation during the early lactation period promoted catch‑up growth and reversed abnormalities in hepatic insulin signaling and gene expression of gluconeogenic enzymes in IUGR offspring rats.

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