The incidence of obesity and metabolic diseases is dramatically high in rapidly developing countries. Causes have been related to intrinsic ethnic features with development of athrifty genotypefor adapting to food scarcity, prenatal programming by undernutrition, and postnatal exposure to obesogenic lifestyle. Observational studies in humans and experimental studies in animal models evidence that the adaptive responses of the offspring may be modulated by their sex. In the contemporary context of world globalization, the new question arising is the existence and extent of sex-related differences in developmental and metabolic traits in case of mixed-race. Hence, in the current study, using a swine model, we compared male and female fetuses that were crossbred from mothers withthrifty genotypeand fathers withoutthrifty genotype. Female conceptuses evidence stronger protective strategies for their adequate growth and postnatal survival. In brief, both male and female fetuses developed a brain-sparing effect but female fetuses were still able to maintain the development of other viscerae than the brain (mainly liver, intestine and kidneys) at the expense of carcass development. Furthermore, these morphometric differences were reinforced by differences in nutrient availability (glucose and cholesterol) favoring female fetuses with severe developmental predicament. These findings set the basis for further studies aiming to increase the knowledge on the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in the determination of adult phenotype.

Fetal sex modulates developmental response to maternal malnutrition / Gonzalez Bulnes, Antonio; Torres Rovira, Laura; Astiz, Susana; Ovilo, Cristina; Sánchez Sánchez, Raúl; Gómez Fidalgo, Ernesto; Martín Lluch, Mercedes; Garcia Contreras, Cionsuelo; Vazquez Gomez, Marta; Perez Solana, Mari Luz. - In: PLOS ONE. - ISSN 1932-6203. - 10:11(2015). [10.1371/journal.pone.0142158]

Fetal sex modulates developmental response to maternal malnutrition

Torres Rovira, Laura;
2015-01-01

Abstract

The incidence of obesity and metabolic diseases is dramatically high in rapidly developing countries. Causes have been related to intrinsic ethnic features with development of athrifty genotypefor adapting to food scarcity, prenatal programming by undernutrition, and postnatal exposure to obesogenic lifestyle. Observational studies in humans and experimental studies in animal models evidence that the adaptive responses of the offspring may be modulated by their sex. In the contemporary context of world globalization, the new question arising is the existence and extent of sex-related differences in developmental and metabolic traits in case of mixed-race. Hence, in the current study, using a swine model, we compared male and female fetuses that were crossbred from mothers withthrifty genotypeand fathers withoutthrifty genotype. Female conceptuses evidence stronger protective strategies for their adequate growth and postnatal survival. In brief, both male and female fetuses developed a brain-sparing effect but female fetuses were still able to maintain the development of other viscerae than the brain (mainly liver, intestine and kidneys) at the expense of carcass development. Furthermore, these morphometric differences were reinforced by differences in nutrient availability (glucose and cholesterol) favoring female fetuses with severe developmental predicament. These findings set the basis for further studies aiming to increase the knowledge on the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in the determination of adult phenotype.
2015
Fetal sex modulates developmental response to maternal malnutrition / Gonzalez Bulnes, Antonio; Torres Rovira, Laura; Astiz, Susana; Ovilo, Cristina; Sánchez Sánchez, Raúl; Gómez Fidalgo, Ernesto; Martín Lluch, Mercedes; Garcia Contreras, Cionsuelo; Vazquez Gomez, Marta; Perez Solana, Mari Luz. - In: PLOS ONE. - ISSN 1932-6203. - 10:11(2015). [10.1371/journal.pone.0142158]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11388/263013
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