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Improving amino acid nutrition to prevent intrauterine growth restriction in mammals

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Abstract

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is one of the most common concerns in human obstetrics and domestic animal production. It is usually caused by placental insufficiency, which decreases fetal uptake of nutrients (especially amino acids) from the placenta. Amino acids are not only building blocks for protein but also key regulators of metabolic pathways in fetoplacental development. The enhanced demands of amino acids by the developing conceptus must be met via active transport systems across the placenta as normal pregnancy advances. Growing evidence indicates that IUGR is associated with a reduction in placental amino acid transport capacity and metabolic pathways within the embryonic/fetal development. The positive relationships between amino acid concentrations in circulating maternal blood and placental amino acid transport into fetus encourage designing new therapies to prevent or treat IUGR by enhancing amino acid availability in maternal diets or maternal circulation. Despite the positive effects of available dietary interventions, nutritional therapy for IUGR is still in its infancy. Based on understanding of the underlying mechanisms whereby amino acids promote fetal growth and of their dietary requirements by IUGR, supplementation with functional amino acids (e.g., arginine and glutamine) hold great promise for preventing fetal growth restriction and improving health and growth of IUGR offspring.

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Abbreviations

AGA:

Appropriate for gestational age

BCAA:

Branched-chain amino acids

eNOS:

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase

IUGR:

Intrauterine growth restriction

mTOR:

Mammalian target of rapamycin

NBW:

Normal birth weight

NO:

Nitric oxide

NRC:

National research council

ODC:

Ornithine decarboxylase

SGA:

Small for gestational age

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 30810103902, 30972156, 31129006, 31272449, and 31272450), and Texas A&M AgriLife Research (H-8200).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Gang Lin, Xiaoqiu Wang, Guoyao Wu, Defa Li & Junjun Wang

  2. Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Gang Lin, Xiaoqiu Wang & Guoyao Wu

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China

    Cuiping Feng

  4. Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Huaijun Zhou

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  1. Gang Lin
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  2. Xiaoqiu Wang
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Correspondence to Junjun Wang.

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Lin, G., Wang, X., Wu, G. et al. Improving amino acid nutrition to prevent intrauterine growth restriction in mammals. Amino Acids 46, 1605–1623 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-014-1725-z

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