A research team, led by Dr. Yulong YIN, at the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture (ISA), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has found that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) alters the metabonome of serum and jejunum in piglets. These findings were published in the Jul. 1 issue of Molecular BioSystems.

IUGR refers to retarded growth and development of the mammalian embryo/fetus or its organs due to the fetus failing to achieve its intrinsic growth potential during pregnancy. IUGR is not only an underlying factor for stunted postnatal growth and newborn deaths, but also associated with disease prevalence, such as hypertension and diabetes, in both adult humans and animals.

By determining the serum and jejunal tissue metabonome in 21-day-old piglets with IUGR or normal weight (NW), researchers found that the IUGR piglets had a lower (p<0.05) birth weight (785 ± 42 g vs. 1451 ± 124 g), weaned weight (3053 ± 375 g vs. 6489 ± 545 g) and average daily gain (108 ± 16 g vs. 240 ± 21 g) compared with the NW piglets. IUGR piglets also had a shorter villus height and lower ratio of villus height to crypt depth in jejunum (p<0.05).

Moreover, by NMR-based metabonomic study, YIN and his colleagues found that the serum levels of glycoprotein, albumin and threonine in IUGR piglets were higher (p<0.05), while serum levels of HDL, lipids, unsaturated lipids, glycerophosphoryl- choline, myo-inositol, citrate, glutamine and tyrosine were lower (p<0.05) than the NW piglets. In addition, marked changes in jejunal metabolites, including elevated levels of lipids and unsaturated lipids, and decreased levels of valine, alanine, glutamine, glutamate, choline, glycerophosphorylcholine, trimethylamine-N-oxide, scyllo-inositol, lactate, creatine, glucose, galactose, phenylalanine, tyrosine, glutathione, inosine and taurine were observed in the IUGR piglets (p<0.05).

“These novel findings indicate that the IUGR piglets have a distinctive metabolic status compared to the NB piglets, including changes in lipogenesis, lipid oxidation, energy supply and utilization, amino acid and protein metabolism, and antioxidant ability; and these information obtained is important for designing rational and effective strategies for preventing and treating IUGR, which subsequently will enhance the efficiency of animal production and improve the well-being of humans”, said YIN.

The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2007CB914701, 2009CB118804, 2009CB118806 and 2010CB912501), National Nature Science Foundation of China (20825520 and 20921004), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX2-YW-W11, KJCX2-YW-W13 and KSCX1-YW-W02) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20090460999).