Gender-specific early postnatal catch-up growth after intrauterine growth retardation by food restriction in swine with obesity/leptin resistance

Abstract

The effects of undernutrition during pregnancy on prenatal and postnatal development of the offspring were evaluated in sows with obesity/leptin resistance. Females were fed, from day 35 of pregnancy onwards, a diet fulfilling either 100% (group control, nZ10) or 50% of the nutritional requirements (group underfed, nZ10). In the control group, maternal body weight increased during pregnancy (P!0.05) while it decreased or remained steady in the underfed group. At days 75 and 100 of gestation, plasma triglycerides were lower but urea levels were higher in restricted than in control sows (P!0.05 for both). Assessment of the offspring indicated that the trunk diameter was always smaller in the restricted group (P!0.01 at day 50, P!0.005 at days 75 and 100 and P!0.0001 at birth) while head measurements were similar through pregnancy, although smaller in the restricted than in the control group at birth (P!0.05). Newborns from restricted sows were also lighter than offspring from control females (P!0.01) and had higher incidence of growth retardation (P!0.01). Afterwards, during lactation, early postnatal growth in restricted piglets was modulated by gender. At weaning, males from restricted sows were still lighter than their control counterparts (P!0.05), while females from control and underfed sows were similar. Thus, the current study indicates a gender-related differential effect in the growth patterns of the piglets, with females from restricted sows evidencing catch-up growth to neutralise prenatal retardation and reaching similar development than control counterparts.

Polyphenols and IUGR pregnancies: Maternal hydroxytyrosol supplementation improves prenatal and early-postnatal growth and metabolism of the offspring

“…Nevertheless, both sexes attained similar body-weight during lactation. These data are consistent with results reported in previous work involving the same breed and dietary restriction [24]; together, these two studies support the idea that female piglets born to nutritionally restricted sows can show “catch-up growth” during lactation. We also observed evidence that piglets in the hydroxytyrosol group were better able to adapt to nutritional restriction than control neonates: We need to have in mind that catch-up growth of females during the early-postnatal period is a consequence of the prenatal restriction used in our model for increasing the incidence of IUGR processes.…”

“…On gestational Day 35, all sows were weighed and the food amount from that day until delivery was adjusted to fulfill 50% of daily maintenance requirements. This diet restriction has been previously found to affect fetal development and to induce lower birth-weight in the newborns [8, 24]. Also on gestational Day 35, sows were pair-matched according to body-weight and 10 females remained as untreated control group (group C) whilst the remaining 10 females (group HT) acted as the treated group by receiving 1.5mg of hydroxytyrosol per kg of feed each day from Day 35 of pregnancy to delivery.…”

“…However, possible usefulness of polyphenols for reproductive health and pregnancy is only beginning to be explored [23] Hence, we aimed to determine whether hydroxytyrosol supplementation of maternal food during pregnancy may improve pre- and early post-natal developmental patterns and metabolic traits of the offspring by using a translational swine model previously developed in our laboratory [8, 24]. …”

Fetal programming in meat production

“…However, because adipose tissue has high plasticity, compensatory growth of adipose tissue often result in fatter offspring born to nutrient restricted mothers. Such growth is frequently associated with increased feed intake and adipocyte hypertrophy (Gonzalez-Bulnes et al, 2012;Zhu et al, 2006).…”

Nutritional conditions in early life and risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) from the perspective of preemptive medicine in perinatal care

“…Since 'catch-up growth' has been reported to increase the risk of adult NCDs, 21,31,38,[69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] nutritional interventions for nursing women and/or neonates may be another target for early interventions (Figure 8). However, Houk et al 102) demonstrated that children born small for gestational age without 'catch-up growth' were at high risk of short stature in adulthood and should be referred for growth hormone treatment.…”