title: Moderately decreased maternal dietary energy intake during pregnancy reduces fetal skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis in the pigs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mitochondria are of major importance in oocyte and early embryo, playing a key role in maintaining energy homeostasis. Epidemiological findings indicate that maternal undernutrition-induced mitochondrial dysfunction during pregnancy is associated with the development of metabolic disorders in offspring. Here, we investigated the effects of moderately decreased maternal energy intake during pregnancy on skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis in fetal offspring with pig as a model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pregnant Meishan sows were allocated to a standard-energy (SE) intake group as recommended by the National Research Council (NRC; 2012) and a low-energy (LE) intake group. Fetal umbilical vein serum and longissimus muscle samples were collected for further analysis on day 90 of pregnancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sow and fetal weights and the concentrations of serum growth hormone (GH) and glucose were reduced in LE group. Maternal LE diet decreased the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and function such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PPARGC1A), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), β subunit of mitochondrial H(+)-ATP synthase (ATB5B), sirtuin 1 (Sirt1), and citrate synthase (CS). The protein expression of PPARGC1A and Sirt1, intracellular NAD(+)-to-NADH ratio, and CS activity was reduced in LE group, and accordingly, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content was decreased. Moreover, copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD) expression at both mRNA and protein levels and SOD and catalase (CAT) activities were reduced in LE group as well.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The observed decrease in muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and antioxidant defense capacity suggests that moderately decreased maternal energy intake during pregnancy impairs mitochondrial function in fetal pigs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Tiande
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Xiangbing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of the Ministry of Education of China, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Cheng du, China.
authors.forename: Daiwen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Fetal pig; Maternal energy intake; Mitochondrial biogenesis; Oxidative stress; Skeletal muscle