Maternal Undernutrition Increases Fibrosis in the Late Gestation Fetal Heart

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. S107
Author(s):  
J. Darby ◽  
C. McMillen ◽  
J. Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Fetal Heart ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Maternal Undernutrition

Effects of maternal periconceptional undernutrition in sheep on offspring glucose–insulin axis function into adulthood

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Mark H. Oliver ◽  
Frank H. Bloomfield ◽  
Amita Bansal ◽  
Hui Hui Phua ◽  
Eric B. Thorstensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Secretion ◽  
Glucose Tolerance ◽  
Protein Expression ◽  
Insulin Signalling ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Maternal Undernutrition ◽  
Kinase C ◽  
First Phase Insulin Secretion ◽  
Protein Kinase C Zeta

Abstract Maternal periconceptional undernutrition (PCUN) affected fetal pancreatic maturation in late gestation lambs and impaired glucose tolerance in 10-month-old sheep. To examine the importance of the timing of maternal undernutrition around conception, a further cohort was born to PCUN ewes [undernourished for 61 d before conception (PreC), 30 d after conception (PostC), or 61 d before until 30 d after conception (PrePostC)], or normally fed ewes (Control) (n = 15–20/group). We compared glucose tolerance, insulin secretion, and sensitivity at 36 months of age. We also examined protein expression of insulin signalling proteins in muscle from these animals and in muscle from a fetal cohort (132 d of gestation; n = 7–10/group). Adult PostC and PrePostC sheep had higher glucose area under the curve than Controls (P = 0.07 and P = 0.02, respectively), whereas PreC sheep were similar to Controls (P = 0.97). PostC and PrePostC had reduced first-phase insulin secretion compared with Control (P = 0.03 and P = 0.02, respectively). PreC was similar to Control (P = 0.12). Skeletal muscle SLC2A4 protein expression in PostC and PrePostC was increased 19%–58% in fetuses (P = 0.004), but decreased 39%–43% in adult sheep (P = 0.003) compared with Controls. Consistent with this, protein kinase C zeta (PKCζ) protein expression tended to be increased in fetal (P = 0.09) and reduced in adult (P = 0.07) offspring of all PCUN ewes compared with Controls. Maternal PCUN alters several aspects of offspring glucose homeostasis into adulthood. These findings suggest that maternal periconceptional nutrition has a lasting impact on metabolic homeostasis of the offspring.

EFFECTS OF MATERNAL NUTRITION ON THE HUMAN FETUS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-503
Author(s):  
Richard L. Naeye ◽  
William Blanc ◽  
Cheryl Paul
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Maternal Nutrition ◽  
Cellular Growth ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Third Trimester ◽  
Organ Growth ◽  
Maternal Undernutrition ◽  
The Third ◽  
Body Organ

In a study of 467 gestations maternal stature had little correlation with fetal growth but mother's pregravid body weight as well as weight gain and low-calorie diets during pregnancy did have such a correlation. Maternal undernutrition before the third trimester had little or no influence on fetal body, organ, and cellular growth while such effects were pronounced in late gestation. Fetal body and organ growth improved with successive pregnancies except in the most poorly nourished mothers, whose successive neonates became more growth retarded.

Maternal undernutrition during the first week after conception results in decreased expression of glucocorticoid receptor mRNA in the absence of GR exon 17 hypermethylation in the fetal pituitary in late gestation

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 391-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Zhang ◽  
O. Williams-Wyss ◽  
S. M. MacLaughlin ◽  
S. K. Walker ◽  
D. O. Kleemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucocorticoid Receptor ◽  
Mrna Expression ◽  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Fetal Sheep ◽  
Maternal Undernutrition ◽  
Stress Responsiveness ◽  
Periconceptional Period

Exposure to maternal undernutrition during the periconceptional period results in an earlier prepartum activation of the fetal hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and altered stress responsiveness in the offspring. It is not known whether such changes are a consequence of exposure of the oocyte and/or the early embryo to maternal undernutrition in the periconceptional period. We have compared the effects of ‘periconceptional’ undernutrition (PCUN: maternal undernutrition imposed from at least 45 days before until 6 days after conception), and ‘early preimplantation’ undernutrition (PIUN: maternal undernutrition imposed for only 6 days after conception) on the expression of genes in the fetal anterior pituitary that regulate adrenal growth and steroidogenesis, proopiomelanorcortin (POMC), prohormone convertase 1 (PC1), 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 and 2 (11βHSD1 and 2) and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in fetal sheep at 136–138 days of gestation. Pituitary GR mRNA expression was significantly lower in the PCUN and PIUN groups in both singletons and twins compared with controls, although this suppression of GR expression was not associated with hypermethylation of the exon 17 region of the GR gene. In twin fetuses, the pituitary 11βHSD1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the PIUN group compared with the PCUN but not the control group. Thus, exposure of the single or twin embryo to maternal undernutrition for only 1 week after conception is sufficient to cause a suppression of the pituitary GR expression in late gestation. These changes may contribute to the increased stress responsiveness of the HPA axis in the offspring after exposure to poor nutrition during the periconceptional period.

scholarly journals Late gestation undernutrition can predispose for visceral adiposity by altering fat distribution patterns and increasing the preference for a high-fat diet in early postnatal life

2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (11) ◽  
pp. 2098-2110 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. O. Nielsen ◽  
A. H. Kongsted ◽  
M. P. Thygesen ◽  
A. B. Strathe ◽  
S. Caddy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subcutaneous Fat ◽  
Normal Diet ◽  
Visceral Adiposity ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Postnatal Life ◽  
High Fat ◽  
Sheep Model ◽  
Maternal Undernutrition ◽  
The Metabolic Syndrome

We have developed a sheep model to facilitate studies of the fetal programming effects of mismatched perinatal and postnatal nutrition. During the last trimester of gestation, twenty-one twin-bearing ewes were fed a normal diet fulfilling norms for energy and protein (NORM) or 50 % of a normal diet (LOW). From day 3 postpartum to 6 months (around puberty) of age, one twin lamb was fed a conventional (CONV) diet and the other a high-carbohydrate–high-fat (HCHF) diet, resulting in four groups of offspring: NORM-CONV; NORM-HCHF; LOW-CONV; LOW-HCHF. At 6 months of age, half of the lambs (all males and three females) were slaughtered for further examination and the other half (females only) were transferred to a moderate sheep diet until slaughtered at 24 months of age (adulthood). Maternal undernutrition during late gestation reduced the birth weight of LOW offspring (P< 0·05), and its long-term effects were increased adrenal size in male lambs and adult females (P< 0·05), increased neonatal appetite for fat-(P= 0·004) rather than carbohydrate-rich feeds (P< 0·001) and reduced deposition of subcutaneous fat in both sexes (P< 0·05). Furthermore, LOW-HCHF female lambs had markedly higher visceral:subcutaneous fat ratios compared with the other groups (P< 0·001). Postnatal overfeeding (HCHF) resulted in obesity (>30 % fat in soft tissue) and widespread ectopic lipid deposition. In conclusion, our sheep model revealed strong pre- and postnatal impacts on growth, food preferences and fat deposition patterns. The present findings support a role for subcutaneous adipose tissue in the development of visceral adiposity, which in humans is known to precede the development of the metabolic syndrome in human adults.

scholarly journals Insulin Deficiency Alters the Metabolic and Endocrine Responses to Undernutrition in Fetal Sheep Near Term

Endocrinology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (8) ◽  
pp. 4008-4018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail L. Fowden ◽  
Alison J. Forhead
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Metabolic Response ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
Hepatic Glycogen ◽  
Insulin Deficiency ◽  
Fetal Sheep ◽  
Maternal Undernutrition ◽  
Significant Fall

Insulin deficiency affects the adult metabolic response to undernutrition, but its effects on the fetal response to maternal undernutrition remain unknown. This study examined the effects of maternal fasting for 48 h in late gestation on the metabolism of fetal sheep made insulin deficient by pancreatectomy (PX). The endocrine and metabolic responses to maternal fasting differed between intact, sham-operated and PX fetuses, despite a similar degree of hypoglycemia. Compared with intact fetuses, there was no increase in the plasma concentrations of cortisol or norepinephrine in PX fetuses during maternal fasting. In contrast, there was a significant fasting-induced rise in plasma epinephrine concentrations in PX but not intact fetuses. Umbilical glucose uptake decreased to a similar extent in both groups of fasted animals but was associated with a significant fall in glucose carbon oxidation only in intact fetuses. Pancreatectomized but not intact fetuses lowered their oxygen consumption rate by 15–20% during maternal fasting in association with increased uteroplacental oxygen consumption. Distribution of uterine oxygen uptake between the uteroplacental and fetal tissues therefore differed with fasting only in PX fetuses. Both groups of fetuses produced glucose endogenously after maternal fasting for 48 h, which prevented any significant fall in the rate of fetal glucose utilization. In intact but not PX fetuses, fasting-induced glucogenesis was accompanied by a lower hepatic glycogen content. Chronic insulin deficiency in fetal sheep therefore leads to changes in the counterregulatory endocrine response to hypoglycemia and an altered metabolic strategy in dealing with nutrient restriction in utero.

Sinoaortic denervation attenuates the reflex responses to hypotension in fetal sheep

1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (5) ◽  
pp. R1103-R1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Fetal Heart ◽  
Carotid Sinus ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Plasma Acth ◽  
Fetal Sheep ◽  
Fetal Plasma ◽  
Venae Cavae ◽  
Afferent Fibers ◽  
Vascular Catheters

Hypotension in fetal sheep stimulates reflex decreases in heart rate and increases in the secretion of several hormones, including adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), cortisol, vasopressin, and renin. However, little is known about the afferent limb(s) of the reflex(es) controlling these responses. Fetal sheep between 122 and 134 days gestation were prepared with chronic vascular catheters, intravascular balloon-tipped catheters, and amniotic fluid catheters. Seven fetal sheep were also subjected to sinoaortic denervation, and nine remained intact. After recovery from surgery for 2-5 days, fetuses were subjected to a 10-min period of hypotension produced by vena caval obstruction, produced by inflation of balloons in the superior and inferior venae cavae. Vena caval obstruction produced decreases in fetal heart rate and increases in fetal plasma ACTH, vasopressin, and renin activity, which were related to the degree of hypotension. Prior sinoaortic denervation attenuated all of these responses. It is concluded that afferent fibers in the carotid sinus and/or aortic depressor nerves mediate part of the heart rate, ACTH, vasopressin, and renin responses to vena caval obstruction in late-gestation fetal sheep.

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