The twin condition exacerbates the effects of intrauterine nutritional restriction on the metabolome in aged ewes.

Abstract

Maternal undernutrition during gestation causes long-term effects in offspring. However, the long-term metabolic effects caused by twin gestation in interaction with intrauterine undernutrition are poorly understood. The hypothesis of this study was that the twin condition exacerbates the metabolic alterations induced by intrauterine nutritional restriction. A total of 28 multiparous 7-year-old Corriedale ewes were used, 20 born as singles (S) and 8 as twins (T), from mothers subjected to two contrasting natural pasture allowances: High allowance (HFA, 11 S, 4 T): 10-12 kg DM/100 kg live weight (LW)/day; Low allowance (LFA, 9 S, 4 T): 5-8 kg DM/100 kg LW/day from 23 days before conception until day 122 of gestation. From birth until the collection of the blood plasma sample used for metabolome studies, the ewes were managed as a single group. Samples were taken after the ewes were fed ad libitum during the previous week. The concentration of 173 metabolites was determined by GC-ToF/MS. Results were log-transformed, and metabolic pathway enrichment was analyzed. No differences were found in the metabolic pathways of T and S ewes in the HFA group. However, in the LFA group, 8 metabolic pathways differed between T and S (FDR ≤ 0.05), including carbohydrate metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, and purine metabolism, associated with higher metabolite concentrations in T than in S ewes. It is concluded that the effect of intrauterine nutritional restriction is intensified by multiple gestation, and it was evident at the end of the ewe's productive life.