Isocaloric high-protein diet as well as branched-chain amino acids supplemented diet partially alleviates adverse consequences of maternal undernutrition on fetal growth.
Maternal undernutrition causes fetal growth restriction. Protein is a vital dietary nutrient for fetal growth, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) are noted to have anabolic actions. In this study, we investigated the effects of maternal high-protein diet or BCAA-supplemented diet upon fetal growth under the condition of maternal calorie restriction. Pregnant mice were calorie-restricted (undernutrition: UN), using either a standard diet (S-UN group), high-protein diet (HP-UN group), or BCAA-supplemented diet (BCAA-UN group) to 70% of the control; dams fed ad libitum with a standard diet (S-NN group) from 10.5days post coitum (dpc) to 18.5dpc. The fetal weights of UN groups were significantly decreased compared to that of S-NN. However, the fetal weights of HP-UN and BCAA-UN were significantly higher by 5% and 4%, respectively, than those of S-UN, concomitant with augmentation of the gene and protein expressions of IGF-I and IGF-II in fetal liver. A high-protein diet as well as BCAA-supplemented diet partially improved fetal growth restriction caused by maternal calorie-restriction, suggesting a pivotal role of them in the amelioration of fetal growth restriction.
Mogami
Haruta
H
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, 54, Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Yura
Shigeo
S
Itoh
Hiroaki
H
Kawamura
Makoto
M
Fujii
Tsuyoshi
T
Suzuki
Ayako
A
Aoe
Seiichiro
S
Ogawa
Yoshihiro
Y
Sagawa
Norimasa
N
Konishi
Ikuo
I
Fujii
Shingo
S
D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain / Q000737:chemistry*; D053180:Animal Nutrition Sciences; D000818:Animals; D031204:Caloric Restriction; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology; D020567:Fetal Weight; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000196:embryology*; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal
D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II