title: Effects of feeding L-carnitine to gilts through day 70 of gestation on litter traits and the expression of insulin-like growth factor system components and L-carnitine concentration in foetal tissues.
abstract: We investigated the influence of supplemental L-carnitine on foetal blood metabolites, litter characteristics, L-carnitine concentration in skeletal muscle and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis components in foetal hepatic and skeletal muscle tissues at day 40, 55 and 70 of gestating gilts. A total of 59 gilts (body weight = 137.7 kg) received a constant feed allowance of 1.75 kg/day and a top-dress containing either 0 or 50 ppm of L-carnitine starting on the first day of breeding through the allotted gestation length. Foetuses from the gilts fed diets with L-carnitine tended to be heavier (p = 0.06) and the circulating IGF-II tended to be lower (p = 0.09) at day 70, compared with the foetuses from the control gilts. Insulin-like growth factor-I messenger RNA (mRNA) was lower (p = 0.05) in hepatic tissue in the foetuses collected from gilts fed L-carnitine. Free and total carnitine concentration increased (p < 0.05) in the skeletal muscle from the foetuses collected from gilts fed supplemental L-carnitine. This study showed that L-carnitine had beneficial effects on the average foetal weight at day 70 of gestation, associated with changes in the foetal IGF system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Goodband
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Tokach
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Dritz
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nelssen
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Minton
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Odle
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Woodworth
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D002331:Carnitine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013552:Swine / Q000097:blood / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D013002:Somatomedins; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D002331:Carnitine