l‐Arginine supplementation of gilts during early gestation modulates energy sensitive pathways in pig conceptuses

• Published in: Molecular reproduction and development Vol. 87; no. 7; pp. 819 - 834
• Main Authors: Garcia, Ingrid S., Teixeira, Susana A., Costa, Karine A., Marques, Daniele B. D., Rodrigues, Gustavo de A., Costa, Thaís C., Guimarães, José D., Otto, Pamela I., Saraiva, Alysson, Ibelli, Adriana M. G., Cantão, Maurício E., Oliveira, Haniel C., Ledur, Mônica C., Peixoto, Jane de O., Guimarães, Simone E. F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-07-2020
• Subjects: amino acid supplementation; antioxidants; fetal programming; mTOR pathway; nutrigenomics; RNA‐seq
• ISSN: 1040-452X; 1098-2795
• DOI: 10.1002/mrd.23397

Dietary l‐arginine (ARG) supplementation has been studied as a nutritional strategy to improve reproductive performance of pregnant sows, since arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid. However, reports addressing the molecular mechanisms that mediate supplementation effects on embryos and fetuses development are still scarce. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effects of 1.0% ARG supplementation of commercial pregnant gilts on genes and proteins from energy metabolism and antioxidant defense pathways in embryos and fetuses. We also analyzed the global transcriptome profile of 25‐ and 35‐day‐old conceptuses. At Day 25, we observed a lower abundance of phospho‐AMP‐activated protein kinase (phospho‐AMPK) protein and downregulation of oxidative phosphorylation system genes in ARG embryos. On the other hand, ARG fetuses showed greater expression of MLST8 and lower expression of MTOR genes, in addition to lower abundance of phospho‐AMPK and phospho‐mammalian target of rapamycin (phospho‐mTOR) proteins. Transcriptome analysis at Day 35 did not present differentially expressed genes. For the antioxidant defense pathway, no differences were found between CON and ARG conceptuses, only trends. In general, supplementation of gilts with 1.0% ARG during early gestation affects energy sensitive pathways in 25‐ and 35‐day conceptuses; however, no effects of supplementation were found on the antioxidative defense pathway in 25‐day embryos.
This study highlights the use of the aminoacid l‐arginine (ARG) in early gestation of pigs. We have seen that it has effects on energy metabolism and oxidative stress pathways. We have shown the effects are not persistent over time and the best period to supplement sows have to be addressed.