Abstract
The global incidence of human obesity has more than doubled over the past three decades. An ovine model of obesity was developed to determine effects of maternal obesity and arginine supplementation on maternal, placental, and fetal parameters of growth, health, and well being. One-hundred-twenty days prior to embryo transfer, ewes were fed either ad libitum (n = 10) to induce obesity or 100% National Research Council-recommended nutrient requirements (n = 10) as controls. Embryos from superovulated ewes with normal body condition were transferred to the uterus of control-fed and obese ewes on day 5.5 post-estrus to generate genetically similar singleton pregnancies. Beginning on day 100 of gestation, obese ewes received intravenous administration of saline or l-arginine-HCl three times daily (81 mg arginine/kg body weight/day) to day 125, whereas control-fed ewes received saline. Fetal growth was assessed at necropsy on day 125. Maternal obesity increased (1) percentages of maternal and fetal carcass lipids and (2) concentrations of leptin, insulin, glucose, glutamate, leucine, lysine and threonine in maternal plasma while reducing (1) concentrations of progesterone, glycine and serine in maternal plasma and (2) amniotic and allantoic fluid volumes. Administration of l-arginine to obese ewes increased arginine and ornithine concentrations in maternal and fetal plasma, amniotic fluid volume, protein content in maternal carcass, and fetal brown adipose tissue (+60%), while reducing maternal lipid content and circulating leptin levels. Fetal or placental weight did not differ among treatments. Results indicate that arginine treatment beneficially reduces maternal adiposity and enhances fetal brown adipose tissue development in obese ewes.
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Abbreviations
- BAT:
-
Brown adipose tissue
- cGMP:
-
Cyclic guanosine monophosphate
- DM:
-
Dry matter
- NRC:
-
National Research Council
- WAT:
-
White adipose tissue
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Kendrick LeBlanc for assistance with animal husbandry, Xilong Li, Peng Li, Reza Rezai, and Jason McKnight for technical assistance, and the members of the Laboratory for Uterine Biology and Pregnancy for assistance with tissue collection. This work was supported, in part, by National Institutes of Health 1R21 HD049449 and National Research Initiative Competitive Grants from the Animal Growth & Nutrient Utilization Program (2009-35206-05211) of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
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Carey Satterfield, M., Dunlap, K.A., Keisler, D.H. et al. Arginine nutrition and fetal brown adipose tissue development in diet-induced obese sheep. Amino Acids 43, 1593–1603 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-012-1235-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-012-1235-9