Maternal nutrition and developmental programming of offspring

Abstract

Developmental programming is the concept that ‘stressors’ during development (i.e. pregnancy, the perinatal period and infancy) can cause long-term changes in gene expression, leading to altered organ structure and function. Such long-term changes are associated with an increased risk of a host of chronic pathologies, or non-communicable diseases including abnormal growth and body composition, behavioural or cognitive dysfunction, metabolic abnormalities, and cardiovascular, gastro-intestinal, immune, musculoskeletal and reproductive dysfunction. Maternal nutrition during the periconceptual period, pregnancy and postnatally can have profound influences on the developmental program. Animal models, including domestic livestock species, have been important for defining the mechanisms and consequences of developmental programming. One of the important observations is that maternal nutritional status and other maternal stressors (e.g. environmental temperature, high altitude, maternal age and breed, multiple fetuses, etc.) early in pregnancy and even periconceptually can affect not only embryonic/fetal development but also placental development. Indeed, altered placental function may underlie the effects of many maternal stressors on fetal growth and development. We suggest that future directions should focus on the consequences of developmental programming during the offspring’s life course and for subsequent generations. Other important future directions include evaluating interventions, such as strategic dietary supplementation, and also determining how we can take advantage of the positive, adaptive aspects of developmental programming.

Dataset of RNA-Seq transcriptome of the fetal liver at day 83 of gestation associated with periconceptual maternal nutrition in beef heifers

“…At breeding, heifers were randomly assigned to either a LG (0.28kg/d) or MG (0.79kg/d). The full description of experimental diets and nutritional composition are described elsewhere [ 1 , 3 ]. Thus, the treatments were arranged as (1) no vitamin and mineral supplementation and low gain (NoVTM_LG, n =9); (2) vitamin and mineral supplementation and low gain (VTM_LG, n =9); (3) no vitamin and mineral supplementation and moderate gain (NoVTM_MG, n =9), and (4) vitamin and mineral supplementation and moderate gain (VTM_MG, n =8).…”

“…Macro and micronutrients play key roles in several biological functions and are essential for proper fetal development and metabolism. An increased number of studies have shown that maternal nutrition during the second and third trimesters of gestation can lead to long-term effects on offspring metabolism and health – reviewed in [3] . However, major developmental events occur during early gestation, including organogenesis.…”

Effects of Dietary Restriction and One-Carbon Metabolite Supplementation During the First 63 Days of Gestation on the Maternal Gut, Vaginal, and Blood Microbiota in Cattle

“…While maternal nutrition and its impacts on fetal programming are increasingly recognized (Wu et al, 2004;Reynolds et al, 2022;Anas et al, 2023;Syring et al, 2023), the impact of maternal nutritionmediated gut microbiome alterations during pregnancy on fetal programming and offspring health and disease remains elusive (Messman and Lemley, 2023). Maternal gut microbiota has the great potential to in uence fetal programming and feto-maternal microbial crosstalk (Jašarević et al, 2021;Amat et al, 2022;Hummel et al, 2022), both of which may have extended in uences on resulting offspring that modify their future health and production potential.…”