Responses to saline drinking water in offspring born to ewes fed high salt during pregnancy

• Published in: Small ruminant research Vol. 91; no. 1; pp. 87 - 92
• Main Authors: Digby, S.N., Blache, D., Masters, D.G., Revell, D.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-06-2010; [Amsterdam; New York, NY]: Elsevier Science
• Subjects: adaptation; aldosterone; biomarkers; drinking; drinking water; ewes; Feed intake; feeding behavior; Fetal programming; halophytes; homeostasis; insulin secretion; lambs; maternal nutrition; megadose; neonates; physiological regulation; physiological response; pregnancy; progeny; Saline water; salinity; Salt and water balance; salt content; volume; voluntary intake; Salt and water balance; Saline water; Feed intake; Fetal programming
• ISSN: 0921-4488; 1879-0941
• DOI: 10.1016/j.smallrumres.2009.11.020

We have studied the fetal programming of lambs born to ewes exposed to high salt during pregnancy. In the present study, we hypothesise that salt-programmed lambs may not need to drink as much saline water as control lambs and that voluntary feed intake of salt-programmed lambs would be reduced. We used two groups of lambs born to ewes fed either a high salt (13% NaCl) diet during pregnancy (S-lambs;
n
=
12) or control animals born to ewes fed a conventional (0.5% NaCl) diet during pregnancy (C-lambs;
n
=
12). Animals were offered
ad libitum amounts of saline drinking water containing 1.5% NaCl for 2 days. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between fetal origin of the lamb (i.e. between C and S-lambs) and time (day 1 and 2) on water intake (
P
=
0.055), urinary output (
P
=
0.002), and sodium excretion (
P
=
0.002). There was an interaction between fetal origin of the lambs and time (day 1 and 2) on the area under the curve (AUC) for the plasma concentration of aldosterone (
P
=
0.017). Aldosterone concentration for C-lambs ranged from 167 to 196
pg/ml over days 1 and 2, whilst S-lambs reduced their aldosterone by two-thirds from day 1 to 2, from 214
±
24 to 74
±
8
pg/ml. A novel result was a marked difference in feed intake between C and S-lambs, where S-lambs consumed approximately 0.5
kg DM/day (35%) less than C-lambs which was associated with a decrease in insulin secretion with time in both S and C-lambs. In conclusion, feeding a high salt diet to pregnant ewes affected the physiological responses of their offspring to the consumption of saline water during a period of 2 days illustrating that fetal programming changed the temporal pattern of how the offspring adapt to a load of ingested salt.