Effect of nutrient intake during pregnancy on fetal and placental growth and vascular development

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Abstract

Remarkable diversity of size and health of offspring exists after normal pregnancies. When pregnancies are complicated by an extrinsic variable such as inappropriate maternal nutrition, birth weight and health of the neonate are substantially affected. The placenta is the organ through which respiratory gases, nutrients, and wastes are exchanged between the maternal and fetal systems. Thus, transplacental exchange provides for all the metabolic demands of fetal growth. Transplacental exchange is dependent upon uterine and umbilical blood flow, and blood flow rates are in turn dependent in large part upon vascularization of the placenta. Therefore, factors that influence placental vascular development will have a dramatic impact on fetal growth and development, and thereby on neonatal mortality and morbidity. Recent work from our laboratories has focused on the effects of nutrient intake during pregnancy on placental growth and vascular development. Both nutrient restriction of the adult dam and overnourishment of the adolescent dam during pregnancy suppress placental cell proliferation and vascularity. Furthermore, placental expression of angiogenic factors and their receptors, factors that are known to affect vascular growth, are perturbed by level of nutrition. Studies in this area will lead to improved methods to manage nutritionally-compromised pregnancies.

Introduction

The relationship between maternal nutrient intake during pregnancy and the growth of the fetus is extremely important for determining pregnancy success and the life-long health and productivity of an individual [1], [2]. Since profitability in the livestock industry is dependent upon efficiency of production characteristics such as growth and development after birth, the precursor of efficiency, namely fetal growth, must be optimal. The size and nutrient transfer capacity of the placenta play a central role in determining the prenatal growth trajectory of the fetus and hence directly influences birth weight. Transplacental exchange is dependent upon uterine and umbilical blood flow, and these blood flows are in turn largely dependent on adequate vascularization of the placenta. This review focuses on the important relationships between maternal nutrition during pregnancy, placental growth and vascular development, and fetal growth.

Section snippets

Priority of partition of nutrients according to metabolic rate

During pregnancy, nutrients are generally partitioned to various tissues of the maternal body in priority order according to their metabolic rate (Fig. 1) [3], [4]. Thus, as nutrients become limiting, tissues with lower metabolic rates and hence reduced priority, will receive quantitatively less nutrients. Since highly metabolically active tissues receive greater rates of blood flow than less metabolically active tissues, rate of blood flow becomes the limiting factor for nutrient partitioning

Relationship of fetal weight and placental growth to stage of gestation

Although fetal organogenesis is largely complete during early gestation, exponential growth of the fetus is limited to the last third of pregnancy (Fig. 2), beginning around day 90 and ending around day 145 (term) in sheep. Thus, approximately 90% of fetal growth occurs during the last third of pregnancy. However, the majority of placental growth, at least in terms of placental mass, occurs during the first two-thirds of pregnancy, and the placenta achieves its maximum weight by day 90 in sheep

Effects of maternal nutrition on fetal growth

Undoubtedly, maternal nutritional status is one of the extrinsic factors programming nutrient partitioning and ultimately growth, development and function of the major fetal organ systems [1], [2], [11], [12], [13]. Indeed, the prenatal growth trajectory is sensitive to the direct and indirect effects of maternal dietary intake from even the earliest stages of embryonic life when the nutrient requirements for conceptus growth are negligible [14]. Furthermore, recent evidence in sheep suggest

An adolescent ewe paradigm for studying nutrition/fetal growth interactions

The data reviewed in the preceding section highlights both the importance of maternal nutrition to pregnancy outcome and the variability in response depending on when the nutritional treatments are applied and the age and growth status of the animals studied. The conflicting demands of maternal growth and appropriate nutrient partitioning to the fetus can largely be avoided in young domestic animal species by simply not allowing them to breed until their own body growth is complete. Substantial

Placental growth, vascular development and impact of maternal nutrition

The placenta is the organ through which respiratory gases, nutrients, and wastes are exchanged between the maternal and fetal systems. Thus, the size and nutrient transfer capacity of the placenta play a central role in determining the prenatal growth trajectory of the fetus and hence birth weight, postnatal viability and long-term health. As mentioned earlier, the growth of the placenta precedes that of the fetus and a strong positive association exists between placental mass and size at birth

Relationship between fetal growth and pregnancy outcome, life-long productivity and health

Factors such as maternal nutritional status and age or gynecological maturity can impinge on normal fetal growth and development and will ultimately affect pregnancy outcome. Characteristics of poor pregnancy outcome include premature births, low birth weight, and high mortality rates from birth to 1 year of age [47]. There is clear evidence that birth weight is correlated with a variety of production and/or health characteristics. In pigs for example, average daily gain is positively

Summary

Clearly, maternal nutrition during pregnancy is an important determinant of subsequent fetal growth and development, pregnancy outcome, and ultimately, life-long health and productivity of an individual. Mechanistically, maternal nutrition appears to impact placental growth and vascular bed development (angiogenesis), thereby affecting uteroplacental blood flows and nutrient uptakes by the fetus, all of which play an important role in fetal growth and metabolism, and birth weight. Furthermore,

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge support from the Scottish Exec. Environ. and Rural Affairs Dept., NIH HL64141, and ND Agr. Exp. Sta. Proj. 1705. We also wish to acknowledge our numerous collaborators and colleagues who are listed on the cited references from our laboratories.

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