Maternal Low Quality Protein Diet Alters Plasma Amino Acid Concentrations of Weaning Rats

Abstract

Several studies have indicated the influence of a maternal low protein diet on the fetus. However, the effect of a maternal low quality protein diet on fetal growth and development is largely unknown. Wistar rats (11 weeks old) were mated and maintained on either a chow diet with 20% casein (n = 6) as the control group (C), or a low quality protein diet with 20% wheat gluten (n = 7) as the experimental group (WG) through gestation and lactation. Maternal body weights were similar in both groups throughout the study. Birth weights were not influenced by maternal diet and offspring body weights during lactation were similar between the groups. Offspring’s plasma amino acid profiles showed that plasma methionine, glutamine and lysine were significantly lower and aspartic acid, ornithine and glycine-proline were significantly higher in the WG. Plant based protein comprises an important part of protein intake in developing countries. It is well-known that these diets can be inadequate in terms of essential amino acids. The current study shows differential effects of a maternal low quality protein diet on the offspring’s plasma amino acids. Future studies will examine further aspects of the influence of maternal low quality protein diets on fetal growth and development.

Maternal low-quality protein diet exerts sex-specific effects on plasma amino acid profile and alters hepatic expression of methyltransferases in adult rat offspring

“…31 Our previous study reported a novel set of data which showed that plasma methionine, glutamine and lysine were significantly lower and aspartic acid, ornithine and glycine-proline were significantly higher without an effect on birth weight in 3-week-old offspring exposed to maternal low-quality protein diet during gestation and lactation. 26 The metabolic phenotype that is related to the progression of chronic diseases is still largely unknown, but recent studies have introduced the hypothesis, that insufficiency in essential amino acids during critical periods of growth may limit certain metabolic set-points essential for maintained a healthy growth and organ developmental trajectory. 32,33 One of the most apparent postnatal effects of offspring exposed to maternal low-protein diets is altered body weight.…”

“…The full experiment which generated the offspring has been previously published. 26 The experiments were performed under the license from the Ethics Committee of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, number: 2014/17. All animals were housed individually in plastic cages and subjected to a 12 h light-dark cycle at a temperature of 20-22°C and 45% humidity.…”

“…24 It is important to note that protein content of certain underdeveloped and developing countries diets is commonly based on vegetable sources such as wheat gluten. 25 The present study utilized animals from the study previously reported by Kabasakal Cetin et al, 26 which showed altered plasma amino acid profiles of weaning offspring that were fed a lowquality protein diet during gestation and lactation without a significant change in growth parameters. Therefore, the current study investigated the hypothesis that whether maternal lowquality protein diet during gestation and lactation exert programming effects on metabolic parameters in adult offspring.…”

“…55 Although methionine and homocysteine levels in WG offspring did not exhibit a significant difference in the current study, our previously published study showed lower levels of methionine in weaning WG offspring. 26 Therefore, a potentially altered, one carbon metabolism associated with maternal low-quality protein diet and altered amino acid concentrations may suggest a possible mechanism by which, epigenetic changes, are affected, in turn causing alterations in gene expression of DNMTs. In addition, methylation status of the specific genes related to physiological outcomes of the current study is also a subject of interest.…”

Dietary Proteins during Late Pregnancy Affect Hyaluronan Levels, and Modulate <i>Hyaluronan synthase 2</i> and <i>KIAA1199</i> mRNA Expression in the Skin of Newborn Mice

“…Possible explanations for these results include differences in the amino acid composition of proteins. Kabasakal et al (2015) have suggested that a maternal low-quality protein diet caused differences in plasma amino acid concentrations in weaning rats. Our previous studies have provided the first evidence of the negative effects of an amino acid deficiency on hyaluronan synthesis in human dermal fibroblasts (Yamane et al, 2016).…”