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Maternal manipulation of brown adipose tissue and liver development in the ovine fetus during late gestation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Lynne Clarke
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 2AJ
Michael J. Bryant
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 2AJ
Michael A. Lomax
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 2AJ
Michael E. Symonds
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 2AJ
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Abstract

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We examined the effect of maternal chronic cold exposure, induced by winter-shearing ewes 4 weeks before their predicted lambing date, on brown adipose tissue (BAT) and liver development in lambs. Fetuses were sampled from under-fed (60% of energy requirements for maintenance and pregnancy of an unshorn ewe) shorn or unshorn ewes at 126,140 and 145 d of gestation. Lambs were sampled from ewes within 2 h of birth. Throughout gestation fetal body, BAT and liver weights were similar in shorn and unshorn groups. The level of GDP binding to mitochondrial uncoupling protein remained low throughout gestation, but increased dramatically after birth. Lambs born to shorn ewes possesd more mitochondrial protein and exhibited a significantly higher total thermogenic activity in BAT. Type I iodothyronine 5 deiodinas(EC 3.8.1.4) activity in BAT peaked at birth, as did hepatic iodothyronine Sdeiodinase activity and was significantly greater in lambs born to under-fed shorn ewes, which exhibited a higher plasma triiodothyronine concentration. Chronic maternal adaptations to prolonged cold exposure appear to enable pregnant ewes to compensate for the negative effects of under-feeding on fetal growth and development

Type
Animal Nutrition
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1997

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