Impact of maternal and postnatal nutrition on femoral artery vascular function of offspring

Abstract

The genesis of disease development can be linked to the intrauterine environment and maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays a significant role in the future vascular health of the offspring. The purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that a high energy (HE) prenatal diet, HE postnatal diet, or their combination will lead to endothelial dysfunction. Duroc x Landrace gilts (n=16) were assigned to either a HE (11,903 Kcal/day, n = 8) or normal energy (NE: 6975 Kcal/day, n = 8) diet throughout pregnancy. Two male and two female piglets from each sow were randomly assigned within sex to receive either a HE diet or NE diet. At 3 months of age the femoral artery was harvested from male and female offspring, representing each pool of maternal and postnatal diet (n=47). Endothelial‐dependent and ‐ independent vasorelaxation were measured using wire‐myography and increasing concentration of bradykinin (BK) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) respectively. No significant differences were observed for BK vasorelaxation. However, prenatal HE diet tended (p=0.07) to decrease SNP vasorelaxation. These results suggest that prenatal HE diet alters vascular smooth muscle cell function as opposed to endothelial cell function in swine. Therefore, future studies should elucidate the mechanisms underlying alterations in vascular smooth muscle function induced by a HE maternal diet. Funding: The Showalter Trust Fund