Fishmeal supplementation during ovine pregnancy and lactation protects against maternal stress-induced programming of the offspring immune system

Abstract

BackgroundPrenatally stressed offspring exhibit increased susceptibility to inflammatory disorders due to in utero programming. Research into the effects of n-3 PUFAs shows promising results for the treatment and prevention of these disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether maternal fishmeal supplementation during pregnancy and lactation protects against programming of the offspring’s immune response following simulated maternal infection. MethodsIn order to accomplish this, 53 ewes were fed a diet supplemented with fishmeal (FM; rich in n-3 PUFA) or soybean meal (SM; rich in n-6 PUFAs) from day 100 of gestation (gd 100) through lactation. On gd135, half the ewes from each dietary group were challenged with either 1.2 μg/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin to simulate a bacterial infection, or saline as the control. At 4.5 months of age the offspring’s dermal immune response was assessed by cutaneous hypersensitivity testing with ovalbumin (OVA) and candida albicans (CAA) 21 days after sensitization. Skinfold measurements were taken and serum blood samples were also collected to assess the primary and secondary antibody immune response. ResultsOffspring born to SM + LPS mothers had a significantly greater change in skinfold thickness in response to both antigens as well as a greater secondary antibody response to OVA compared to all treatments.ConclusionsSupplementation during pregnancy with FM appears to protect against adverse fetal programming that may occur during maternal infection and this may reduce the risk of atopic disease later in life.

Role of Long Chain Fatty Acids in Developmental Programming in Ruminants

“…It is important to point out that this was the first study to investigate whether n-3 supplementation during gestation and lactation can protect the offspring from programming following simulated maternal infection during late gestation. The Fisher-Heffernan et al [ 90 ] study is different from others as supplementation with n-3 PUFA occurred solely through the dam and the offspring n-3 PUFA concentrations were not different across treatments at the time of challenge with OVA and CAA.…”

“…It has been reported that supplementation during late gestation with n-3 PUFA [ 90 ] can modulate factors involved in the immune response having effects on the health as subsequent growth of the offspring. In ruminants, changes in molecules involved in the immune response and inflammatory markers of the offspring have been associated with an improvement in growth after maternal FA supplementation during late gestation [ 65 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 76 , 81 ].…”

“…Fisher-Heffernan et al [ 90 ] observed that ewe supplementation during late gestation with a source of n-3 PUFA could protect against adverse fetal programming that may occur during maternal infection and thus may reduce the risk of atopic disease later in life. Ewes were fed a diet supplemented either with fishmeal (source of n-3 PUFA) or soybean meal (source of n-6 PUFA) from day 100 of gestation through lactation.…”

“…On day 135 of gestation, half of the ewes from each dietary group were challenged with either 1.2 μg/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin to simulate a bacterial infection, or saline as the control. Lambs’ dermal immune response was assessed by cutaneous hypersensitivity testing with ovalbumin (OVA) and candida albicans (CAA) 21 days after sensitization at 4.5 months of age [ 90 ]. It was found that ewe n-3 PUFA supplementation during late pregnancy protected the offspring from maternal endotoxin challenge and decreased the dermal immune response and antibody-specific response to novel antigens.…”

Effect of algae or fish oil supplementation and porcine maternal stress on the adrenal transcriptome of male offspring fed a low-quality protein diet

“…During fetal development, the adrenal gland may be vulnerable to adverse programming resulting from exposure to maternal stressors such as microbial infection during pregnancy ( Fisher et al., 2014 ; Harris and Seckl, 2011 ). Maternal stress including simulated infection has previously been shown to alter developmental programming of both the HPA axis and the immune system in sheep and swine ( Fisher-Heffernan et al., 2015 ; Fisher et al., 2014 ; Kranendonk et al., 2006 ; Lay et al., 2011 ). This may leave offspring vulnerable to inflammatory, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases in adulthood ( Bronson and Bale, 2014 ; Gur et al., 2017 ; Mdaki et al., 2016 ).…”