Effects of Maternal Low-Energy Diet during Gestation on Intestinal Morphology, Disaccharidase Activity, and Immune Response to Lipopolysaccharide Challenge in Pig Offspring.

Yuling Chen,Bin Feng,Shengyu Xu,De Wu,Jian Li,Liang Hu,Yan Lin,Zhengfeng Fang,Jie Zhen,Lianqiang Che,Daolin Mou

doi:10.3390/nu9101115

Abstract

Maternal nutrition during gestation is involved in the offspring’s intestinal development and immunity. The aim of this study was to (1) determine the effects of maternal energy on intestinal digestion and absorption function in offspring, using pigs as a model; and (2) to evaluate the potential effect and mechanisms of maternal energy in modulating immune responses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged piglets. After mating, thirty-six nine-parity sows (Landrace × Yorkshire), body weight (BW) (initial body weight 233.56 ± 2.77 kg) were allocated to two dietary treatment groups; a control diet (CON) group and a low-energy diet (LED) group. The nutrient levels of the CON were based on the nutrient recommendations by the National Research Council (NRC, 2012), and contained 3.40 MCal digestible energy (DE)/kg diet and 7.3% crude protein; while the LED contained 3.00 MCal DE/kg diet. The dietary treatments were introduced from day 1 of gestation to farrowing. Intestine samples were collected from the pigs’ offspring at birth, and at weaning (day 28 post-birth). At weaning, male pigs from control and LED groups were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (50 μg/kg body weight) or saline (n = 6), and sacrificed at 4 h post-injection to collect blood, intestine and digesta samples for biochemical analysis. The results indicated that the maternal LED markedly decreased the BW, small intestinal weight, and the ratio of jejunum and ileum villus height to crypt depth in the offspring. Moreover, the activities of lactase and sucrase in newborn piglets’ intestine, and sucrase and maltase in weaning piglet intestine were markedly decreased by the maternal LED. In addition, maternal LED significantly increased the mRNA relative expression of ileal IL-6 and TNF-α in newborn piglets. Plasma IL-1β concentration and colonic Escherichia coli amount were affected by maternal diet (p < 0.05) and LPS challenge (p < 0.001). Maternal LED significant increased the mRNA relative expression of ileal TLR-4, IL-1β and NF-κB as well as decreased ZO-1 in weaning pigs after LPS challenge (p < 0.05). In conclusion, decreasing energy intake could suppress the offspring’s intestinal digestion and absorption function, and increase the susceptibility of weaning piglets to LPS challenge.

Highlights

Maternal malnutrition in pregnancy can cause maternal endocrine and metabolic disorders, further damaging the growth of the placenta, thereby affecting the mother-to-fetus nutrient transport and weakening the growth and development of the fetus [1]
We investigated whether providing maternal low-energy intake would affect intestinal development and immune function in offspring
Maternal low-energy diet (LED) piglets had a higher ratio of small intestine (SI) length to body weight (BW) than control diet (CON) piglets (p < 0.01)

Summary

Introduction

Maternal malnutrition in pregnancy can cause maternal endocrine and metabolic disorders, further damaging the growth of the placenta, thereby affecting the mother-to-fetus nutrient transport and weakening the growth and development of the fetus [1]. In animal and human nutrition, the gastrointestinal tract is responsible for the introduction of nutrients into the body cells. A large amount of experimental data has shown that nutritional factors, including energy, protein, fat and fatty acids, affect intestinal function [4], and some studies have shown that maternal malnutrition during pregnancy may result in poor development of the intestinal tract and intestinal function damage [5,6]. Due to development and growth constraints, compared with normal newborn piglets, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)

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