Perinatal Exposure to a Diet High in Saturated Fat, Refined Sugar and Cholesterol Affects Behaviour, Growth, and Feed Intake in Weaned Piglets

Abstract

The increased consumption of diets high in saturated fats and refined sugars is a major public health concern in Western human societies. Recent studies suggest that perinatal exposure to dietary fat and/or sugar may affect behavioural development. We thus investigated the effects of perinatal exposure to a high-fat high-sugar diet (HFS) on behavioural development and production performance of piglets. Thirty-two non-obese sows and their piglets were allocated to 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design, with 8-week prenatal (gestation) and 8-week postnatal (lactation and post-weaning) exposure to a HFS diet (12% saturated fat, 18.5% sucrose, 1% cholesterol) or control low-fat low-sugar high-starch diets as factors. From weaning onwards (4 weeks of age), piglets were housed in group of 3 littermates (n = 8 groups/treatment) and fed ad libitum. After the end of the dietary intervention (8 weeks of age), all the piglets were fed a standard commercial diet. Piglet behaviours in the home pens were scored, and skin lesions, growth, feed intake and feed efficiency were measured up to 8 weeks after the end of the dietary treatment, i.e. until 16 weeks of age. At the end of the dietary treatment (8 weeks of age), response to novelty was assessed in a combined open field and novel object test (OFT/NOT). During the weeks following weaning, piglets fed the postnatal HFS diet tended to be less aggressive (p = 0.06), but exhibited more oral manipulation of pen mates (p = 0.05) than controls. Compared to controls, piglets fed the prenatal or postnatal HFS diet walked more in the home pen (p ≤ 0.05), and tended to have fewer skin lesions (p < 0.10). Several behavioural effects of the postnatal HFS diet depended on the prenatal diet, with piglets subjected to a switch of diet at birth being more active, and exploring feeding materials, pen mates, and the environment more than piglets that remained on the same diet. Behaviours during the OFT/NOT were not affected by the diet. The intake of the postnatal HFS diet drastically reduced feed intake, but improved feed efficiency up to 8 weeks after the end of the dietary intervention, i.e. 16 weeks of age (p < 0.0001 for both). Our study highlights the key role of prenatal and postnatal nutritional interactions for early behavioural development, and reveals programming effects of early life nutrition on voluntary feed intake of piglets later in life.

Prenatal influences on temperament development: The role of environmental epigenetics

“…The impact of a calorie-dense perinatal diet (high in saturated fat, refined sugar, and cholesterol) on the development of piglets was examined (Clouard, Gerrits, Kemp, Val-Laillet, & Bolhuis, 2016). Prenatal exposure resulted in decreased basal salivary cortisol levels, relative to controls.…”

A maternal Western diet during gestation and lactation modifies offspring's microbiota activity, blood lipid levels, cognitive responses, and hippocampal neurogenesis in Yucatan pigs

“…A large body of evidence has also highlighted the impact of early‐life nutrition on behavioral and brain functions related to eating behavior, food pleasure, and motivation. Specific preferences and motivation to consume fats and sweets were increased in offspring of nonobese rat dams exposed to a high‐calorie diet during gestation and lactation (13, 14), and Clouard et al (17) showed programming effects of a maternal WD on social behavior and voluntary feed intake of piglets later in life.…”

Foraging in the farrowing room to stimulate feeding : getting piglets to eat is bittersweet

“…The findings of the current study suggest that early feeding experiences can have long-lasting effects on feed preferences, at least up to two weeks after the treatments were not reinforced anymore. Our findings are consistent with previous studies, who also reported differences in short-(during dietary treatment) and long-term feeding preferences (after end of dietary treatments) in piglets exposed to different diets early in life (Figueroa et al, 2013;Blavi et al, 2016;Clouard et al, 2016).…”

“…However, our data on haptoglobin concentrations and weaningstress-induced behaviour do not support this hypothesis. Thirdly, providing fibrous creep feed may affect the responsiveness of piglets to novelty via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, because dietary composition has been shown to affect anxiety, exploration, agonistic and activity levels in pigs at various stages of life (Haagensen et al, 2014;Clouard et al, 2016). Indeed, the gut microbiota of CF-and NF-piglets differed in composition from 2 weeks of age (Choudhury, Middelkoop et al, in preparation).…”

“…Early familiarisation with feed may thus help piglets to cope with weaning. Besides, creep feed provision may improve the capacity of piglets to cope with novelty via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, as dietary composition has been shown to affect anxiety, exploration, agonistic and activity levels in pigs (Haagensen et al, 2014;Clouard et al, 2016). Therefore, we hypothesized that creep feed provision would stimulate ingestive behaviours, feed intake and growth of weaned piglets, reduce haptoglobin concentrations and weaning-stress-induced behaviours, and attenuate the fear response to novelty.…”