Abstract
Simple SummaryDietary protein is an important nutrient source for sows, necessary for not only growth and production, but also other physiological functions. Protein limitations in maternal diets have the potential to impair fetal myogenesis, while excess maternal dietary protein appears to only have minor effects on early fetal muscle formation. Effects of maternal protein deficiency on increased fat deposition in porcine neonates is inconsistent with gene expressions in the neonates. Sufficient maternal dietary protein can enhance porcine milk protein and fat concentration. Understanding the function of protein and amino acids in sows and the effects on their offspring can provide rational approaches for the regulation of piglet growth and further improvements in meat quality in the future.Maternal nutrition plays a vital role in fetal development, early development of neonates, and lactation and regulates the lifetime productivity of offspring. During pregnancy, maternal nutrition alters expression of the fetal genome and the development of tissues and organs via fetal programming. After parturition, maternal nutrition continues to regulate growth and development of piglets through maternal milk, which contains carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and oligosaccharides. Thus, deficiencies in maternal nutrition are detrimental to development of piglets, which can lead to inefficient growth and decreased carcass merit. Protein is an important nutritional component for sows, which not only functions in muscle development, but also plays a vital role in embryonic and neonatal development and lactation. Although effects of maternal undernutrition on neonatal development have been widely studied in sows, the function of different maternal dietary protein levels on fetal development, neonatal growth and lactation performance of sows is largely unknown. Determination of the effects and underlying mechanisms of maternal dietary protein levels on development of piglets is vital to the pork industry. Therefore, we summarized recent reports regarding mechanisms of effects of maternal protein levels on regulation of conceptus growth and early postnatal development though uterine fetal programming and lactation in swine.
Highlights
Maternal nutritional excess or deficiency during or after pregnancy can significantly impact the development of offspring
Højgaard and colleagues (2018) [62] conducted an experiment with 594 sows allocated to one of six diets with standardized ileal digestible (SID) crude protein (CP) of 96, 110, 119, 128, 137, and 152 g/kg. This experiment found milk yield and milk fat reached a peak at 128 g and 110 g dietary SID protein/kg, respectively, while milk protein linearly increased from 4.1% to 5.1% with the increase of the dietary protein level
Excess maternal dietary protein appears to only have minor effects on early fetal muscle formation, excess maternal dietary protein up-regulates the genes related to muscle fiber formation
Summary
Maternal nutritional excess or deficiency during or after pregnancy can significantly impact the development of offspring. Sufficient maternal nutrition enhances placental growth, vascular development, and placental nutrient transport [1]. The fetus is dependent on maternal nutrition for growth and development. During this period fetal programming occurs, initiated by nutritional and environmental stimulus or insult, and results in changes in organ differentiation, growth, or development, especially muscle and adipose tissue [4]. Sufficient milk intake can enhance gastrointestinal tract development [9,10] and stimulate visceral organ and skeletal muscle protein synthesis [11]. There is limited information on the effects of maternal protein and amino acid levels on fetal and early neonatal development through fetal programming and lactation performance of sows. The objective of this review is to describe the mechanisms whereby maternal protein levels during gestation and lactation regulate conceptus growth and early postnatal development
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