Effects of late gestational nutrient restriction on uterine artery blood flow, placental size, and cotyledonary mRNA expression in primiparous beef females

Abstract

Fall-calving primiparous beef females [body weight (BW): 451 ± 28 (SD) kg; body condition score (BCS): 5.4 ± 0.7] were individually-fed either 100% (control; CON; n = 13) or 70% (nutrient restricted; NR; n = 13) of metabolizable energy and metabolizable protein requirements for maintenance, pregnancy, and growth from day 160 of gestation to parturition. Doppler ultrasonography of both uterine arteries was conducted pre-treatment and every 21 d from days 181 to 265 of gestation. Expelled placentas were collected, and ipsilateral cotyledonary tissue was sampled to assess relative messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression. Placentas were separated into ipsilateral and contralateral sides, dissected (cotyledonary vs. intercotyledonary), and dried. Data were analyzed with nutritional plane, treatment initiation date, and calf sex (when P < 0.25) as fixed effects. Uterine blood flow included day and nutritional plane × day as repeated measures. We previously reported that post-calving, NR dams weighed 64 kg less and were 2.0 BCS lower than CON, but calf birth weight was not affected. Maternal heart rate was less (P < 0.001) for NR dams than CON after nutritional planes began. Nutritional plane did not affect (P ≥ 0.20) uterine artery hemodynamics, but all variables were affected (P ≤ 0.04) by day. Contralateral cotyledonary and placental weight were less (P ≤ 0.04) and contralateral intercotyledonary weight and number of cotyledons tended to be less (P ≤ 0.10) for NR dams than CON, but ipsilateral and whole placental weights were not affected (P ≥ 0.13). Ipsilateral placental weight as a percentage of total placental weight was greater (P = 0.03) for NR dams than CON. Whole placental cotyledonary:intercotyledonary weight was less (P = 0.01) for NR dams than CON. Placental efficiency was not affected (P = 0.89) by nutritional plane. Cotyledonary relative mRNA expression of GLUT3 and SNAT2 was greater (P ≤ 0.05) and relative expression of GLUT1, GLUT4, and NOS3 tended to be greater (P ≤ 0.07) for NR dams than CON. Nutritional plane did not affect (P ≥ 0.13) relative mRNA expression of GLUT5, 4F2hc, CAT1, LAT1, LAT2, VEGFA, FLT1, KDR, GUCY1B3, and PAG2. Despite less contralateral placental growth, beef heifers experiencing late gestational nutrient restriction maintained uterine artery blood flow and total placental mass and had 4 nutrient transporters and 1 angiogenic factor upregulated in cotyledons, all which likely contributed to conserving fetal growth.