Peri-conception and first trimester diet modifies reproductive development in bulls

Abstract

Abstract. Nutritional perturbation during gestation alters male reproductive development in rodents and sheep. In cattle both the developmental trajectory of the feto-placental unit and its response to dietary perturbations is dissimilar to that of these species. This study examined the effects of dietary protein perturbation during the peri-conception and first trimester periods upon reproductive development in bulls. Nulliparous heifers (n ¼ 360) were individually fed a high-or low-protein diet (HPeri and LPeri) from 60 days before conception. From 24 until 98 days post conception, half of each treatment group changed to the alternative post-conception high-or low-protein diet (HPost and LPost) yielding four treatment groups in a 2 Â 2 factorial design. A subset of male fetuses (n ¼ 25) was excised at 98 days post conception and fetal testis development was assessed. Reproductive development of singleton male progeny (n ¼ 40) was assessed until slaughter at 598 days of age, when adult testicular cytology was evaluated. Low peri-conception diet delayed reproductive development: sperm quality was lowered during pubertal development with a concomitant delay in reaching puberty. These effects were subsequent to lower FSH concentrations at 330 and 438 days of age. In the fetus, the low periconception diet increased the proportion of seminiferous tubules and decreased blood vessel area in the testis, whereas low first trimester diet increased blood vessel number in the adult testis. We conclude that maternal dietary protein perturbation during conception and early gestation may alter male testis development and delay puberty in bulls.

Maternal periconceptional and first trimester protein restriction in beef heifers: effects on placental parameters and fetal and neonatal calf development

“…Maternal dietary protein restriction, at the moderate level used in this study, is commonly observed in commercial cattle operations (Bortolussi et al 2005). We have previously shown that such restriction alters productivity traits in the progeny (Micke et al 2010a(Micke et al , 2011 and have reported that both postnatal reproductive development (Copping et al 2018) and meat quality traits (Alvarenga et al 2016) were affected in the entire male progeny from the present study. Information presented in this study may provide insights into the underlying molecular pathways that promote susceptibility to increased fat deposition in the growing animal subsequent to protein restriction during early oocyte and/or embryo development.…”

“…kidney; Reynolds and Caton 2012). These adaptations have been shown in both human and animal studies to be a contributing factor to the development of metabolic diseases in adult life (McMillen and Robinson 2005) and, in production animals, to affect economically important reproductive (Sullivan et al 2009a;Mossa et al 2013;Copping et al 2018) and carcass (Long et al 2010;Micke et al 2010a;Alvarenga et al 2016) traits.…”

“…The study was a two-by-two factorial design. The animals were the heifers and their progeny that have previously been described (Copping et al 2014) with management and diet composition reported in detail by Copping et al (2018).…”

Nutritional adversity, sex and reproduction: 30 years of DOHaD and what have we learned?

“…Maternal undernutrition was associated by reduced mean Sertoli cell numbers and reduced seminiferous tubule diameter (Kotsampasi et al 2009). In a bovine model, male offspring born to heifers fed a low-protein diet during gestation presented reduced sperm quality, characterized by increased proportion of sperm with non-progressive motility and abnormal morphology (Copping et al 2018). Similarly, the number of Sertoli cells were reduced by 20% in male offspring born to pregnant ewes fed a low-caloric diet (Bielli et al 2001).…”

“…In a model of placental insufficiency, prenatally growth-restricted male lambs had reduced testicular volume (Da Silva et al 2001). Similarly, male bovine offspring born after prenatal nutrient restriction had an increased proportion of seminiferous tubules and reduced testicular blood vessel area (Copping et al 2018). Maternal undernutrition was associated by reduced mean Sertoli cell numbers and reduced seminiferous tubule diameter (Kotsampasi et al 2009).…”