A High Protein Diet during Pregnancy Affects Hepatic Gene Expression of Energy Sensing Pathways along Ontogenesis in a Porcine Model
2011

Impact of High Protein Diet during Pregnancy on Offspring's Liver Gene Expression

Sample size: 48 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Oster Michael, Murani Eduard, Metges Cornelia C., Ponsuksili Siriluck, Wimmers Klaus

Primary Institution: Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Dummerstorf, Germany

Hypothesis

The offspring's transcriptomes show short-term and long-term changes depending on the maternal diet.

Conclusion

A high protein diet during pregnancy affects the hepatic gene expression of energy sensing pathways in offspring.

Supporting Evidence

  • Maternal high protein intake during pregnancy is linked to changes in offspring's liver gene expression.
  • Offspring from high protein diet mothers showed altered energy metabolism pathways.
  • Gene expression profiles were analyzed at prenatal and postnatal stages.

Takeaway

Feeding pregnant pigs a high protein diet changes how their babies' livers work, which might affect their health later on.

Methodology

Pregnant German landrace gilts were fed either a high protein diet or an adequate protein diet, and their offspring's hepatic transcriptome profiles were analyzed at various developmental stages.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to the specific breed of pigs used and the controlled experimental conditions.

Limitations

The study primarily focuses on a porcine model, which may not fully translate to humans.

Participant Demographics

Pregnant German landrace gilts.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.05

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0021691

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