Effects of dietary supplementation of gestating sows with adenosine 5ʹ-monophosphate or adenosine on placental angiogenesis and vitality of their offspring

Abstract

Abstract Our previous study found that dietary nucleotide supplementation, including adenosine 5ʹ-monophosphate (AMP), could increase AMP content in sow milk and promote piglet growth, but its effects on placental efficiency and piglet vitality remain unknown. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of dietary AMP or its metabolite adenosine (ADO) supplementation on sow reproductive performance and placental angiogenesis. A total of 135 sows with a similar farrowing time were blocked by backfat and body weight (BW) at day 65 of gestation and assigned to one of three dietary treatment groups (n = 45 per treatment): basal diet, basal diet supplemented with 0.1% AMP or 0.1% ADO, respectively. Placental analysis and the characteristics of sows and piglets unveiled that compared with control (CON) group, AMP or ADO supplementation could improve sow placental efficiency (P < 0.05) and newborn piglet vitality (P < 0.05), increase piglet birth weight (P < 0.05), and reduce stillbirth rate (P < 0.05). More importantly, AMP or ADO supplementation could increase the contents of AMP, ADO, and their metabolites in placentae (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, AMP or ADO supplementation could also increase placental vascular density (P < 0.05) and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (P < 0.05), as well as promote the migration and tube formation of porcine iliac artery endothelial cells (P < 0.05). Overall, maternal dietary AMP or ADO supplementation could increase their contents in the placenta, thereby improving placental angiogenesis and neonatal piglet vitality.