Maternal Protein Restriction Mediates the Development of the Musculoskeletal System in the Offspring

Abstract

The age‐related progressive decline of muscle mass and strength plays a major role in the pathogenesis of frailty which results in a substantial reduction of the quality of life of older people. Age‐related changes in motor neurons, muscle fibres and the interactions between nerves and muscles are responsible for the loss of strength. There is considerable evidence that poor maternal nutrition leads to a number of changes in muscle of the offspring that result in reduced function. Muscle strength is also compromised in older individuals who did not grow well in early life, and studies suggest that maternal, developmental and nutritional factors are important. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of reduced maternal protein intake on the development of the neuromuscular system of the offspring as well as on bone mass.Studies were undertaken in Thy1‐YFP16 mice that express yellow fluorescent protein only in neuronal cells. Two weeks before mating, female mice were fed either a low protein diet (5% Crude Protein) or a control diet (20% Crude Protein). After acclimation to the chow, breeders were placed together. Newborn pups were cross‐fostered to different lactating dams (maintained on either normal or low protein diet) within 24 h after birth. Pups were culled either at weaning (21 days) by cervical dislocation or were weaned onto either the deficient or the control diet until 12 weeks of age. The extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and tibial trabecular bone were analysed using histological and μCT techniques respectively. The maximum force generated by the EDL was also determined.Our data indicate that mice born from dams maintained on a normal protein diet but fed post‐natally by a foster dam maintained on a low protein diet (N‐L) show significant reductions in body size, body weight, muscle fibre number and muscle size at 21 days when compared with pups from dams maintained on a normal protein diet throughout the in utero and post‐natal periods (N‐N). Maintenance of mice on a low protein diet until 12 weeks of age resulted in reduced muscle strength. Additionally, μCT analyses revealed changes in trabecular bone mass and the growth plate between the two groups.Thus, these data suggest that, in mice, protein deficient diet in the post‐natal period can negatively affect musculoskeletal development.Support or Funding InformationThe authors would like to thank BBSRC, the MRC‐Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) and The Physiological Society for financial support.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.