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Effects of Maternal Starvation on Some Blood Metabolites, Liver Glycogen, Birth Weight and Survival of Piglets¹

Virginia State University^,4, Petersburg 23803

³ Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. M. O. Ezekwe, P.O. Box 456, Virginia State Univ., Petersburg 23803.

Abstract

Pregnant crossbred sows were assigned to three treatments during the third trimester of gestation for an evaluation of the effects of maternal starvation on fetal development and piglet survival. Two groups of sows were taken off feed (water and trace mineralized salt only) on days 93 and 107 of gestation, respectively; the third group was fed 1.82 kg of complete sow diet/day and served as the control. Litter size, gestation length and pig birth weight in the 7-day and 21-day starvation groups were not different from those in the control group (P>.05). Liver weight was depressed (Pì.05) among the 7-day and 21-day progeny. However, liver glycogen concentrations and total liver glycogen were unaffected. Maternal blood glucose decreased to a fasting but steady level, while free fatty acid (FFA) increased in the two starved groups. Blood glucose and FFA at birth were similar for all treatment groups; however, FFA increased in the progeny of sows in the 7-day (P<.05) and 21-day (P<.01) starvation groups at 48 hr of age. Blood glucose at 48 hr did not vary (P>.05), but the control progeny showed a faster glucose utilization, suggesting a greater dependence on carbohydrate metabolism than in the progeny of starved dams. Survival rate at 72 hr of age was higher among 21-day (43.8%) and 7-day (37.5%) progeny than among control progeny (8.5%). The increased plasma FFA level observed with fasting in the progeny of starved dams might indicate a shift toward lipid metabolism, which would account for the improved survival observed among the progeny of treated dams.

¹ Contribution Virginia State Univ. and Journal Article No. 124. This investigation was a part of the research supported by SEA/CR Grant No. 801-15-10B.

² The author expresses his appreciation to Dr. E. T. Kornegay, Virginia Polytechnic Inst, and State Univ., for supplying the animals for this experiment and to Dr. R. A. Jordan, Mr. D. S. Parkes and J. C. Uzodinma for their assistance with blood sampling and specimen collection.

⁴ Dept. of Anim. Sci. and Pre-Vet. Med.

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