From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2010-05-26 21:46:42 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] abstract: the beginning of an epigenetic study
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>, fg <Ferret-Genetics@yahoogroups.com>
This one is in Mustela vison, American Mink, so
not as closely related to domestic ferrets as
European Mink, but closely enough that it pays
to follow studies in them.
They are looking to find out if dietary restrictions
during pregnancy affect the way that the offsprings
and later generations pancreases may behave. There
are population studies in humans finding changes in
grandchildren, and there is rodent work.
The final sentence reads:
>Whether these changes during foetal life cause
>permanent changes in the glucose homeostasis of the
>offspring and result in the transmission of epigenetic
>phenotypic changes, as seen in the rat, needs further
>investigation.
BEGIN QUOTE OF ABSTRACT:
1. Arch Anim Nutr. 2010 Feb;64(1):56-76.
Effect of late gestation low protein supply to mink (Mustela vison)
dams on reproductive performance and metabolism of dam and offspring.
Matthiesen CF, Blache D, Thomsen PD, Hansen NE, Tauson AH.
Department of Basic Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Life
Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Protein malnutrition in utero that induces permanent changes in
metabolism has been investigated intensively in various animals in
recent years, but to the best of our knowledge, not yet in the mink, a
strict carnivore. In the present study, minks were fed either a low-
protein (LP) diet, i.e., with a protein:fat:carbohydrate ratio of
14:51:35% of metabolisable energy (ME), or an adequate-protein diet
(AP), i.e. 29:56:15% of ME, from when implantation was completed until
parturition (17.9 +/- 3.6 days). Respiration and balance experiments
were performed during both gestation and lactation. Plasma
concentrations of leptin, IGF-1, and insulin were determined by
radioimmunoassay; the relative abundances of glucose-6-phosphatase
(G-6-Pase), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (Fru-1,6-P2ase), phosphoenol-
pyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and pyruvate kinase (PKM2) were
determined in liver, and abundances of adiponectin and leptin in
adipose tissue were determined by real-time quantitative PCR (q PCR).
The protein supply only affected quantitative metabolism traits during
the period of differentiated feeding. The dietary composition was
reflected in the nitrogen metabolism and substrate oxidation, but no
effects remained during lactation. The LP dams tended to have a
smaller liver mass in relation to body weight than did AP dams (2.5%
vs. 2.9%; p = 0.09), significantly less leptin mRNA (p < 0.05), and
30.6% fewer kits per mated female (p = 0.03). Furthermore, F1-
generation kits exposed to protein restriction during foetal life
(FLP1; 10.3 g) had a lower birth weight (p = 0.004) than did F1-
generation kits exposed to adequate protein (FAP1; 11.3 g).
Differences remained significant until 21 days of age (120.4 g vs.
127.6 g; p = 0.005). The FLP1 foetuses displayed a lower abundance of
Fru-1,6-P2ase mRNA (p = 0.007) and of PKM2 mRNA (p = 0.002) than did
FAP1 foetuses. Whether these changes during foetal life cause
permanent changes in the glucose homeostasis of the offspring and
result in the transmission of epigenetic phenotypic changes, as seen
in the rat, needs further investigation. PMID: 20496862 [PubMed - in
process]
END QUOTE OF ABSTRACT
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
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