Heifer nutrient intake during early- and mid-gestation programs adult offspring adiposity and mRNA expression of growth-related genes in adipose depots

Abstract

Changes in maternal nutrient intake during gestation alterIGFreceptor abundance and leptin (LEP) mRNA expression in fetal adipose tissue. It is not known whether such changes persist into adult life and whether they are associated with an effect on phenotype. We investigated the effect of high (240%) and low (70%) levels of recommended daily crude protein intake for beef heifers during the first and second trimesters of gestation on singleton progeny (n=68): subcutaneous (SC) adipose tissue depth at rump (P8) and rib (RF) sites from 65 until 657 days of age; plasma leptin concentrations from birth until 657 days and expression ofIGF1andIGF2, their receptors (IGF1RandIGF2R) andLEPmRNA in perirenal (PR), omental (OM) and SC adipose tissue at 680 days of age. High-protein diets during the first trimester increasedLEPandIGF1mRNA in PR of males and females, respectively, compared with low-protein diets, and decreasedIGF1RmRNA in SC of all progeny but increased RF depth of males between 552 and 657 days. High-protein diets compared with low-protein diets during the second trimester increasedIGF1RmRNA in PR and OM of all progeny;LEPmRNA in PR of males; andIGF2andIGF2RmRNA in OM of all progeny. Conversely,LEPmRNA in OM andIGF2mRNA in PR of all progeny were decreased following exposure to high- compared with low-protein diets during the second trimester. Heifer diet during gestation has permanent sex- and depot-specific effects on the expression of adipogenic and adipocytokine genes and offspring adiposity.