Pre- and postnatal nutrition in sheep affects β-cell secretion and hypothalamic control

Early-life exposure to the Chinese famine and risk of hyperuricaemia in adult females in Qingdao

Two population-based cross-sectional surveys involving randomly selected Chinese adults aged 35-74 years were conducted in Qingdao, China in 2006 and 2009. Nine thousand fifty-five subjects from the two surveys were grouped into four birth groups of fetal/infant exposed (born between 1 January 1959 and 31 December 1962), childhood exposed (born between 1 January 1950 and 31 December 1958), adolescence exposed (born between 1 January 1942 and 31 December 1949) and the unexposed (born before 1941 and after 1963). Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate the OR and 95 % CI of hyperuricaemia in different exposed groups. Overall, famine exposure in the fetal/infant period, childhood and adolescence was not associated with adulthood hyperuricaemia (all P > 0·05). In females, childhood exposed group (OR = 1·59, 95 % CI 1·25, 2·02) and adolescence exposed group (OR = 1·74, 95 % CI 1·30, 2·33) both had higher risks to have hyperuricaemia in adult. However, this difference was not found in fetal/infant exposed group. In males, no significant relation was observed in any famine exposed group (all P > 0·05). Exposure to famine in childhood and adolescence is associated with an increased risk of hyperuricaemia for adulthood of females, but not in males. Adequate nutrition during early life appears to be beneficial to prevent hyperuricaemia of adult females.

Famine Exposure during the Fetal Period Increased the Risk of Dyslipidemia in Female Adults

Chronic diseases are gradually becoming public health challenges around the world. This study was designed to explore the relationship between early life exposure to famine in China and the risk of dyslipidemia during adulthood. A total of 604 subjects born from 1955 to 1965 received a health checkup and completed a questionnaire survey at the health management center of the tertiary hospital in Hefei, China, in 2013. A logistic regression model was used to assess dyslipidemia in famine-exposed and nonexposed individuals. Overall, exposure to famine during the fetal (OR 1.37; 95% CI: 0.90-2.10; and p = 0.14) and childhood (OR 0.97; 95% CI: 0.67-1.41; and p = 0.89) periods did not significantly increase the risk of dyslipidemia in adulthood compared with no exposure group. For females, exposure to famine during the fetal period (OR 2.00; 95% CI: 1.03-3.86; and p = 0.04) significantly increased the risk of dyslipidemia in adulthood compared to no exposure; however, this difference was not found in males. Exposure to famine in early life leads to altered lipid distribution in adulthood, and the risk of dyslipidemia significantly increased in adult women who were exposed to famine during the fetal period. Our study further validated the relationship between famine exposure during pregnancy and increased risk of dyslipidemia in female adult offspring. This study provides a scientific basis for the prevention and control of abnormal blood lipid levels in adults.

Impacts of prenatal nutrition on animal production and performance: a focus on growth and metabolic and endocrine function in sheep

The concept of foetal programming (FP) originated from human epidemiological studies, where foetal life nutrition was linked to health and disease status later in life. Since the proposal of this phenomenon, it has been evaluated in various animal models to gain further insights into the mechanisms underlying the foetal origins of health and disease in humans. In FP research, the sheep has been quite extensively used as a model for humans. In this paper we will review findings mainly from our Copenhagen sheep model, on the implications of late gestation malnutrition for growth, development, and metabolic and endocrine functions later in life, and discuss how these implications may depend on the diet fed to the animal in early postnatal life. Our results have indicated that negative implications of foetal malnutrition, both as a result of overnutrition and, particularly, late gestation undernutrition, can impair a wide range of endocrine functions regulating growth and presumably also reproductive traits. These implications are not readily observable early in postnatal life, but are increasingly manifested as the animal approaches adulthood. No intervention or cure is known that can reverse this programming in postnatal life. Our findings suggest that close to normal growth and slaughter results can be obtained at least until puberty in animals which have undergone adverse programming in foetal life, but manifestation of programming effects becomes increasingly evident in adult animals. Due to the risk of transfer of the adverse programming effects to future generations, it is therefore recommended that animals that are suspected to have undergone adverse FP are not used for reproduction. Unfortunately, no reliable biomarkers have as yet been identified that allow accurate identification of adversely programmed offspring at birth, except for very low or high birth weights, and, in pigs, characteristic changes in head shape (dolphin head). Future efforts should be therefore dedicated to identify reliable biomarkers and evaluate their effectiveness for alleviation/reversal of the adverse programming in postnatal life. Our sheep studies have shown that the adverse impacts of an extreme, high-fat diet in early postnatal life, but not prenatal undernutrition, can be largely reversed by dietary correction later in life. Thus, birth (at term) appears to be a critical set point for permanent programming in animals born precocial, such as sheep. Appropriate attention to the nutrition of the late pregnant dam should therefore be a priority in animal production systems.

Exposure to the Chinese Famine in Childhood Increases Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Adults

BACKGROUND

Evidence shows that exposure to poor conditions in early life is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases in adults.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated whether exposure to the Chinese famine (1959-1961) in the fetal stage or in childhood (0-9 y) was associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hyperglycemia in adulthood.

METHODS

We included 7801 subjects aged 56.4 ± 3.3 y from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort. Subjects were classified into late-, middle-, and early-childhood-exposed, fetal-exposed, and unexposed groups. Excess mortality rate was used to evaluate the severity of famine. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the famine-dysglycemia associations. Generalized linear models were used to assess the famine effects on dysglycemia risk during the 5-y follow-up period among 3100 subjects.

RESULTS

In descriptive analyses, the risk of T2D was significantly greater in the middle-childhood-exposed group (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.87; P = 0.007), and the risk of hyperglycemia was higher in the middle- and late-childhood-exposed groups than in the unexposed group (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.88 and OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.85, respectively). In sex-specific analyses, women exposed in middle childhood (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.06) and late childhood (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.87) had a higher risk of T2D than unexposed women. This association was not found in men. Similar associations were found for hyperglycemia risk. Moreover, subjects who experienced severe famine in childhood had a 38% higher T2D risk (95% CI: 1.05, 1.81) than those exposed to less severe famine. In retrospective cohort analyses, participants who experienced famine in middle childhood had a higher hyperglycemia risk relative to the unexposed group (RR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.08, 3.90).

CONCLUSION

Exposure to the Chinese famine in childhood was related to an increased risk of adulthood T2D and hyperglycemia, particularly in women.

Long-Term Impacts of Foetal Malnutrition Followed by Early Postnatal Obesity on Fat Distribution Pattern and Metabolic Adaptability in Adult Sheep

We aimed to investigate whether over- versus undernutrition in late foetal life combined with obesity development in early postnatal life have differential implications for fat distribution and metabolic adaptability in adulthood. Twin-pregnant ewes were fed NORM (100% of daily energy and protein requirements), LOW (50% of NORM) or HIGH (150%/110% of energy/protein requirements) diets during the last trimester. Postnatally, twin-lambs received obesogenic (HCHF) or moderate (CONV) diets until 6 months of age, and a moderate (obesity correcting) diet thereafter. At 2½ years of age (adulthood), plasma metabolite profiles during fasting, glucose, insulin and propionate (in fed and fasted states) tolerance tests were examined. Organ weights were determined at autopsy. Early obesity development was associated with lack of expansion of perirenal, but not other adipose tissues from adolescence to adulthood, resulting in 10% unit increased proportion of mesenteric of intra-abdominal fat. Prenatal undernutrition had a similar but much less pronounced effect. Across tolerance tests, LOW-HCHF sheep had highest plasma levels of cholesterol, urea-nitrogen, creatinine, and lactate. Sex specific differences were observed, particularly with respect to fat deposition, but direction of responses to early nutrition impacts were similar. However, prenatal undernutrition induced greater metabolic alterations in adult females than males. Foetal undernutrition, but not overnutrition, predisposed for adult hypercholesterolaemia, hyperureaemia, hypercreatinaemia and hyperlactataemia, which became manifested only in combination with early obesity development. Perirenal expandability may play a special role in this context. Differential nutrition recommendations may be advisable for individuals with low versus high birth weights.

Is Exposure to Famine in Childhood and Economic Development in Adulthood Associated With Diabetes?

CONTEXT

The Chinese were afflicted by great famine between 1959 and 1962. These people then experienced rapid economic development during which the gross domestic product per capita increased from $28 in 1978 to $6807 in 2013. We hypothesize that these two events are associated with the booming rate of diabetes in China.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to explore whether exposure to famine in early life and high economic status in adulthood was associated with diabetes in later life.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Our data of 6897 adults were from a cross-sectional Survey on Prevalence in East China for Metabolic Diseases and Risk Factors study in 2014. Among them, 3844 adults experienced famine during different life stages and then lived in areas with different economic statuses in adulthood.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Diabetes was considered as fasting plasma glucose of 7.0 mmol/L or greater, hemoglobin A1c of 6.5% or greater, and/or a previous diagnosis by health care professionals.

RESULTS

Compared with nonexposed subjects, famine exposure during the fetal period (odds ratio [OR]1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]1.09-2.14) and childhood (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.21-2.73) was associated with diabetes after adjusting for age and gender. Further adjustments for adiposity, height, the lipid profile, and blood pressure did not significantly attenuate this association. Subjects living in areas with high economic status had a greater diabetes risk in adulthood (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.20-1.78). In gender-specific analyses, fetal-exposed men (OR 1.64, 95% CI, 1.04-2.59) and childhood-exposed women (OR 2.81, 95% CI, 1.59-4.97) had significantly greater risk of diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS

The rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes in middle-aged and elderly people in China is associated with the combination of exposure to famine during the fetal stage and childhood and high economic status in adulthood. Our findings may partly explain the booming diabetes phenomenon in China.

Pre-natal undernutrition and post-natal overnutrition are associated with permanent changes in hepatic metabolism markers and fatty acid composition in sheep

AIM

Determine the impacts of pre- and early-post-natal nutrition on selected markers of hepatic glucose and fat metabolism.

METHODS

Twin-bearing ewes were fed 100% (NORM) or 50% (LOW) of protein and energy requirements during the last 6-weeks of gestation. Twin-lambs received either a high-carbohydrate high-fat (HCHF) or conventional (CONV) diet from 3 days to 6 months of age (around puberty), whereafter lambs from the four subgroups were slaughtered (16 males/3 females). Remaining lambs (19 females) were fed a moderate diet and slaughtered at 2 years of age (young adults).

RESULTS

Pre-natal LOW nutrition was associated with increased hepatic triglyceride, ceramide and free fatty acid content in adulthood (not observed in lambs), which was accompanied by up-regulated early-stage insulin signalling as reflected by increased INSRβ and PI3K-p110 protein expression. The HCHF diet increased hepatic triglyceride content in lambs, associated with down-regulated expressions of energy-metabolism-related genes (GLUT1, PPARα, SREBP1c, PEPCK). These post-natal effects were not observed in adult HCHF sheep, after they had received a moderate (body-fat correcting) diet for 1.5 years. Interestingly, pre-natal LOW nutrition induced permanent alterations in hepatic phospholipids' fatty acid composition. Thus, the amount of linoleic acid (C18 : 2 ∆(9,12)) was significantly increased and composition of rumen-derived fatty acids were altered, indicating changed composition of rumenal microbiota.

CONCLUSION

Hepatic insulin signalling and linoleic and microbial-derived fatty acid content in phospholipids are targets of foetal programming induced by late-gestation undernutrition. Future studies are required to explain their cause-effect associations with increased risks of developing hepatic steatosis and insulin insensitivity in adulthood.