Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation Differently Affects the Small Intestinal Phenotype and Gene Expression of Newborn Lambs from Differing Litter Sizes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of maternal dietary folic acid (FA) supplementation during gestation on small intestinal development of newborn lambs of different litter sizes, focusing on the intestinal morphology and development-, apoptosis- and digestion-related genes expression. One hundred and twenty Hu ewes (Ovis aries) were inseminated and randomly allotted to three groups. One group received a control diet [without FA supplementation, control (CON)] and the other two groups received control diets supplemented with different amount of FA [16 or 32 mg FA per kg dry matter (DM), i.e., F16 and F32] during pregnancy. After lambing, according to the dietary FA levels and litter size (twins, TW; triplets, TR), the neonatal lambs were divided into 6 (TW-CON, TW-F16, TW-F32, TR-CON, TR-F16, TR-F32) treatment groups. The results showed that the ratio of small intestinal weight to live body weight and the thickness of the intestinal muscle layer in the offspring was enhanced significantly with increasing maternal FA supplementation (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the expression levels of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) and sodium/glucose co-transporter-1 (SGLT1) in the small intestines of the newborn lambs were increased, while the opposite was true for Bcl2-associated × (BAX) in response to FA supplementation (p < 0.05). Moreover, the small intestinal weights of twins were significantly higher than those of triplets (p < 0.01), and the expression levels of IGF-I (p < 0.05), sucrase-isomaltase (SI) (p < 0.05) and solute carrier family 2 member 5 (SLC2A5) (p < 0.01) were significantly lower than those in triplets. These findings suggest that maternal FA supplementation could improve the offspring’s small intestinal phenotype and the expression of development-, apoptosis- and digestion-related genes, so it could promote the small intestinal development of newborn lambs. Furthermore, the small intestine phenotypic development of twins was generally better than that of triplets, while the expression levels of the above genes of twins were lower than those of triplets.

Effect of folic acid supplementation to Lohmann Brown layers diet on immune response and intestinal morphology

“…Besides folic acid plays an important role in increasing the expression of mRNA in the cells. It can cause an increase in the growth and proliferation of cells and thus an increase in the length of the villi and this is was observe on after folic acid administration as compare with before folic acid administration (Li et al, 2020). Immune tolerance of IGg of ND showed a significant (p≤0.05) increase after administration of folic acid when compared with before administration of folic acid.…”

Effect of dietary folic acid and energy density on immune response, gut morphology, and oxidative status in blood and breast muscle of broiler chickens

“…Contrary to the findings ofWang et al (2021b),Liu et al (2011) reported that FA supplementation did not affect the intestinal morphology, including the VH and CD. A previous finding observed that increasing maternal FA supplementation significantly enhanced the ratio of small intestinal weight to live body weight and the thickness of the intestinal muscle layer in the offspring(Li et al 2020). Variation in results might be as a result of different FA inclusion levels and species used.…”

Prenatal and Postnatal Nutrition Influence Pancreatic and Intestinal Carbohydrase Activities of Ruminants

“…Researchers have recently evaluated the effects of maternal folic acid supplementation throughout gestation on small intestinal mRNA expression of SI, MGAM, and LCT in lambs from differing litter sizes [ 51 ]. The study was designed with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments where folic acid was supplemented throughout gestation at 0, 16, or 32 mg/kg of diet DM.…”

“…After parturition, lambs from twin-bearing and triplet-bearing ewes were slaughtered for tissue collection. There was a folic acid supplementation × litter size interaction where maternal folic acid supplementation had a quadratic effect on duodenal LCT expression in twins, but no effects in triplets [ 51 ]. Additionally, duodenal SI expression was greater in triplet-born lambs compared to twin-born lambs.…”

“…Additionally, duodenal SI expression was greater in triplet-born lambs compared to twin-born lambs. Duodenal or jejunal MGAM mRNA expression of lambs did not differ with maternal folic acid supplementation or litter size [ 51 ]. Inadequate fetal nutrient supply resulting from multiple pregnancies, as well as maternal folic acid supplementation, may modulate changes in small intestinal function through epigenetic modifications [ 51 ].…”