Abstract
Abstract. The Erhualian (EHL) pig possesses significantly lower growth rates and higher adipose deposition compared with the Large White (LW) pig. To further understand the mechanism of breed lipid deposition difference at the early postnatal age, we employed an animal model of EHL and LW pigs at weaning age to compare the lipid metabolism differences in subcutaneous fat. The result showed that serum triglyceride in EHL was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of LW. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ protein level in EHL was significantly higher (P < 0.01) though CCTTA enhancer-binding protein level demonstrated no change compared with LW pigs. Hormone sensitive lipase, adipose tissue triglyceride lipase mRNA expression and the lipase activity were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in EHL. Uncoupling protein-2 protein content was significantly lower (P < 0.01) in EHL than that in LW pigs. We first cloned the nucleotide sequence of Zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) with 1090 bp and found that both ZAG mRNA expression and protein level in EHL pigs was significantly lower (P < 0.01) than that of LW pigs. β3 adrenergic receptor mRNA expression in EHL pigs was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that of LW pigs, though tumour necrosis factor α gene expression demonstrated no significant difference. Therefore, the significant breed lipid metabolism difference in subcutaneous fat exists at an early postnatal age between EHL and LW pigs, and this difference may originate from two causes including the increased lipid synthesis and reduced lipid mobilization in EHL pigs compared with LW pigs.
Highlights
In recent years, an epidemic of obesity has been observed around the world
The lipases activity was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the subcutaneous fat of EHL than in that Large White (LW) pigs (Fig. 2). mRNA expression of CPT1 and uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2), two key genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the subcutaneous fat tissue of EHL than that of LW pigs
Two breeds, previous studies suggested that adipose tissue development occurs much earlier in MS than in LW pigs (Mourot et al, 1996), and preadipocyte proliferation demonstrated the breed difference in vitro (Gerfault et al, 1999)
Summary
An epidemic of obesity has been observed around the world. Adipose metabolism has received much attention because substantial adipose deposition is related to many metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, etc. The pig is one of the most important domestic species for meat production and is an ideal model for metabolic studies including obesity (Spurlock et al, 2008). Concerning the breed specific adipose metabolism, though there have been some reports demonstrating the breed differences (Quintanilla et al, 2002; Li et al, 2008a, b; Nakajima et al, 2011; Wei et al, 2011), most of them were interested in the pigs’ metabolism at the finishing period. Early life is a critical period for body lipid deposition (Wells, 2007). Understanding the adipose metabolism at the early postnatal stage is decisive for clarifying the breed difference of lipid deposition in pigs
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