Maternal supplementation with fishmeal protects against late gestation endotoxin-induced fetal programming of the ovine hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

Abstract

Adverse uterine environments caused by maternal stress (such as bacterial endotoxin) can alter programming of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) rendering offspring susceptible to various adulthood diseases. Thus, protection against this type of stress may be critical for ensuring offspring health. The present study was designed to determine if maternal supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) during pregnancy helps to protect against stress-induced fetal programming. Briefly, 53 ewes were fed a diet supplemented with fishmeal (FM) or soybean meal (SM) from day 100 of gestation (gd100) through lactation. On gd135, half the ewes from each dietary group were challenged with either 1.2 μg/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin, or saline as the control. The offspring's cortisol response to weaning stress was assessed 50 days postpartum by measuring serum cortisol concentrations 0, 6 and 24 h post weaning. Twenty-four hours post-weaning, lambs were subjected to an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge (0.5 μg/kg) and serum cortisol concentrations were measured 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 h post injection. At 5.5 months of age, offspring were also challenged with 400 ng/kg of LPS, and serum cortisol concentrations were measured 0, 2, 4 and 6 h post challenge. Interestingly, female offspring born to FM+LPS mothers had a greater cortisol response to weaning and endotoxin challenge compared with the other treatments, while female offspring born to SM+LPS mothers had a faster cortisol response to the ACTH stressor. Additionally, males born to FM+LPS mothers had a greater cortisol response to the ACTH challenge than the other treatments. Overall, FM supplementation during gestation combined with LPS challenge alters HPAA responsiveness of the offspring into adulthood.

Lipids in maternal diet influence yolk hormone levels and post‐hatch neophobia in the domestic chick

“…These results suggest a potential action for the n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio of diet on the HPA-axis of hens as reported in other species (Fisher et al, 2014;Lafourcade et al, 2011;Larrieu et al, 2014). First, hens of the n-3 diet had FCM levels more than three-times greater than controls.…”

Sex and the preimplantation embryo: implications of sexual dimorphism in the preimplantation period for maternal programming of embryonic development

“…This phenomenon is not limited to cases where maternal environment is modified during the entirety of gestation or during mid- or late gestation (see Micke et al 2010; Palou et al 2012, Fisher et al 2014, and Khalyfa et al 2015 for examples) but, as is summarized in Table 1, also occurs for programming caused by changes in maternal environment during preimplantation stages of embryonic development.…”

DOHaD at the intersection of maternal immune activation and maternal metabolic stress: a scoping review

“…In this survey, HIV was not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous or provider-initiated PTB, consistent with Ndirangu et al 22 These findings reinforce the trend of PTB associated with small maternal stature and maternal infections demonstrated in the Tellapragada study. 25 Outcomes of maternal immune activation and metabolic abnormality in model systems A total of six studies were performed in mice, [28][29][30][31][32][33] two in rats, 34,35 and one in sheep 36 (Table 4). The rat studies both involved nutritional deficiency, while the sheep study and two of the mouse studies involved supplementation.…”

“…29 Developmental outcomes included fetal death in two studies, 29,32 weight and length measures in three studies, 28,32,34 performance on neuropsychiatric studies in three studies, [33][34][35] food intake and metabolism in one study, 30 gene expression and cytokine profiling in three studies, 31,32,34 placental iron in one study, 34 and serum cortisol response to stresses in one study. 36 The results of the individual studies are examined in more detail below.…”