Increased maternal nutrition of sows has no beneficial effects on muscle fiber number or postnatal growth and has no impact on the meat quality of the offspring1

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine how increased feed intake of the sow during early to mid-gestation affects sow performance and the muscle fiber number, performance, and technological meat quality of the offspring. Thirty-nine pregnant sows (Landrace x Large White sows mated to Landrace or Large White boars) in their fourth parity were assigned to one of three treatments: 1) the sows were either fed restrictively (control = 15 MJ of NE/d from d 1 to 90, then 24 MJ of NE/d from d 91 to 112, and again 15 MJ of NE/d from d 113 to 115 of gestation); 2) fed ad libitum from d 25 to 50 (A25-50); or 3) ad libitum from d 25 to 70 (A25-70) and as control in the remaining periods. The offspring were weaned at 4 wk of age and had free access to feed from 2 wk of age until slaughter. They were slaughtered litterwise at an average body weight of 104 +/- 14 kg. Estimates for total, primary (P-), and secondary (S-) muscle fiber number; muscle fiber area; and DNA and RNA content were analyzed in semitendinosus muscle (ST) samples from the heaviest, middle, and lightest weight (LW) pigs of each sex within litter selected at slaughter. Technological meat quality traits (pH at 24 h postmortem, drip loss, Minolta color, and pigment) were analyzed in longissimus dorsi muscle. Fiber number, fiber area, and concentrations and content of DNA and RNA of the offspring were not significantly affected by increased maternal nutrition. The ST muscle weight was lower in offspring from A25-50 than control sows (P = 0.019). Average daily gain, carcass weight, and the muscle deposition rate also were numerically lower for A25-50 than control and A25-70 pigs. An interaction between treatment and pig weight was found for muscle deposition rate (P = 0.006), in that LW pigs from treatment A25-50 had a lower deposition rate than LW pigs from control. We found no effect of treatment on the meat quality traits in the offspring. Also, barrows had a higher (P < 0.05) number of P-fibers, higher daily gain, and carcass weight than female pigs. No differences were found on any meat quality traits between sexes. Thus, ad libitum feeding of pregnant sows from d 25 to 50 or d 25 to 70 of gestation did not have any beneficial effect on muscle fiber number and area in the offspring. It seems that maternal ad libitum feeding from d 25 to 50 in gestation had a negative effect on postnatal muscle growth, with especially the LW pigs being affected.

Advances in research on the prenatal development of skeletal muscle in animals in relation to the quality of muscle-based food. I. Regulation of myogenesis and environmental impact

“…This additional feed allowance had no beneficial effects on postnatal growth performance of the progeny. Total fibre number and numbers of primary and secondary myofibres were lower in M. longissimus after maternal supplementation, which was contrary to the expected higher (Dwyer et al, 1994;Gatford et al, 2003) or unchanged (Nissen et al, 2003) numbers. This was mainly due to lower numbers Regulation of myogenesis and environmental impact of IIB fibres and was associated with improved meat quality in terms of lightness and pH at 24 h post mortem, whereas carcass quality in terms of lean meat percentage or back fat thickness remained unchanged.…”

“…Progeny of the high-energy sows grew slower and had lower gain-to-feed ratios and higher percentages of adipose tissue (AT) than pigs born to control and/or low-energy sows. Similarly, Nissen et al (2003) found a significant negative effect of ad libitum feeding of pregnant sows from days 25 to 50 on the average daily weight gain and muscle deposition rate. The effect on muscle deposition rate was most pronounced in the smaller littermates.…”

Key signalling factors and pathways in the molecular determination of skeletal muscle phenotype

“…Earlier work suggests that doubling food intake during early sow pregnancy increases the number of secondary fibres in the newborn, which would confer greater potential for post-natal growth (Dwyer et al, 1994). More recent work, however, could not reproduce this finding (Nissen et al, 2003). Connected to nutrition, mild dietary restriction on beef cattle has little apparent effect on muscle characteristics or meat quality (Casser-Malek et al, 2004).…”

Mitochondrial biogenesis is decreased in skeletal muscle of pig fetuses exposed to maternal high-energy diets

“…Likewise, decreased oxidative phosphorylation, antioxidative capacity and mitochondrial electron transport chain enzyme activities in the liver and skeletal muscle have been observed in the offspring subjected to maternal overnutrition and diabetes (Bruce et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2011;Latouche et al, 2014). In mammals, muscle fibers are formed prenatally, and subsequent skeletal muscle development depends largely on muscle fiber hypertrophy (Nissen et al, 2003;Zou et al, 2016). Therefore, skeletal muscle is particularly vulnerable during the very early stage of mammalian development, and understanding the effect of maternal overnutrition on mitochondrial biogenesis and function in skeletal muscle of the fetuses may provide useful information on the fetal origins of the metabolic syndrome.…”