Effect of maternal undernutrition during pregnancy on early ovarian development and subsequent follicular development in sheep fetuses

Gonad development in female sheep fetuses is thought to occur in a number of key stages. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of maternal undernutrition, applied at one or more of these critical stages, on fetal ovarian development. Groups of ewes (n = 11-19) were fed rations providing either 100% (high; H) or 50% (low; L) of energy requirements for live weight maintenance during selected 'windows' during gestation. Control ewes (HH and HHH) were fed the H ration from mating until they were killed at days 50, 65 (HH) or 110 (HHH) of gestation, whereas ewes of other groups were fed the L ration for the periods between day 0 and day 30 of gestation (LH and LHH), day 31 and day 50 or 65 of gestation (HL and HLH), day 65 and day 110 of gestation (HHL) or day 0 of gestation until the animals were killed (LL and LLL). At day 50 of gestation, there was no effect of nutritional treatment on mean fetal mass but compared with HH animals, mean fetal ovarian mass was significantly lower in HL (P < 0.05) and LL (P < 0.001) animals. At day 65 of gestation, there were significantly fewer germ cells (P < 0.05) at the resting, diplotene stage of initial meiosis in LL animals than there were in HH animals, indicating delayed germ cell maturation and onset of meiosis. Qualitative assessment of proliferative cell nuclear antigen immunostaining indicated that, at day 50 of gestation, staining was located predominantly in the germ cells, whereas by day 65 of gestation, staining was confined predominantly to somatic cells. Undernutrition in each one of these windows was associated with delayed ovarian follicular development (P < 0.05-0.001) as measured by development of the granulosa cell layer at day 110 of gestation. This study demonstrates that undernutrition before and during folliculogenesis can delay fetal follicular development.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. O. Bergland, A. Genissel, S. V. Nuzhdin, and M. Tatar Quantitative Trait Loci Affecting Phenotypic Plasticity and the Allometric Relationship of Ovariole Number and Thorax Length in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, September 1, 2008; 180(1): 567 - 582. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. A. Fowler, N. J. Dora, H. McFerran, M. R. Amezaga, D. W. Miller, R. G. Lea, P. Cash, A. S. McNeilly, N. P. Evans, C. Cotinot, et al. In utero exposure to low doses of environmental pollutants disrupts fetal ovarian development in sheep Mol. Hum. Reprod., May 1, 2008; 14(5): 269 - 280. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. M. Chagas, J. J. Bass, D. Blache, C. R. Burke, J. K. Kay, D. R. Lindsay, M. C. Lucy, G. B. Martin, S. Meier, F. M. Rhodes, et al. Invited Review: New Perspectives on the Roles of Nutrition and Metabolic Priorities in the Subfertility of High-Producing Dairy Cows J Dairy Sci, September 1, 2007; 90(9): 4022 - 4032. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Hyatt, H. Budge, D. Walker, T. Stephenson, and M. E. Symonds Effects of maternal parity and late gestational nutrition on mRNA abundance for growth factors in the liver of postnatal sheep Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, May 1, 2007; 292(5): R1934 - R1942. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Guzman, R. Cabrera, M. Cardenas, F. Larrea, P. W. Nathanielsz, and E. Zambrano Protein restriction during fetal and neonatal development in the rat alters reproductive function and accelerates reproductive ageing in female progeny J. Physiol., April 1, 2006; 572(1): 97 - 108. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R G Lea, L P Andrade, M T Rae, L T Hannah, C E Kyle, J F Murray, S M Rhind, and D W Miller Effects of maternal undernutrition during early pregnancy on apoptosis regulators in the ovine fetal ovary Reproduction, January 1, 2006; 131(1): 113 - 124. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K A Brennan, G S Gopalakrishnan, L Kurlak, S M Rhind, C E Kyle, A N Brooks, M T Rae, D M Olson, T Stephenson, and M E Symonds Impact of maternal undernutrition and fetal number on glucocorticoid, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor receptor mRNA abundance in the ovine fetal kidney Reproduction, February 1, 2005; 129(2): 151 - 159. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]