A pre- and postnatal immune challenge influences muscle growth and metabolism in weaned pigs

The in utero environment is key to both fetal and postnatal growth and development. The objective of this study was to determine if administration of an acute low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to gestating sows during mid to late gestation and postweaning would alter the offsprings metabolomic profile of the longissimus dorsi (LD) and muscle ultrastructure. Pregnant Camborough sows were randomly assigned to receive LPS (LPS; n = 7) at a dose of 2.5 µg/kg or saline (CON; n = 7) on 78 ± 1.8 d of gestation. At weaning (21 ± 1.3 d of age), barrows (CON n = 17; LPS n = 17) from each treatment were selected to receive a secondary LPS. Barrows were administered the secondary LPS challenge at a dose of 10 µg/kg 7 d post weaning. Twenty-four hours after the postnatal LPS dose, barrows (31 ± 1.3 d of age) were euthanized, and each LD was removed. The left LD was utilized for morphometric measurements. Two samples from the medial section of the right LD were preserved for immunohistochemical measurements and metabolomic analyses. Mass spectral data were deconvoluted, aligned, and annotated using MS-DIAL. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using MetaboAnalyst. Pathway analysis was conducted and compared to the Homo sapiens pathway library. Morphometric and immunohistochemical measurements were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS version 9.4. Significance for all analyses was declared at P ≤ 0.05 and tendencies were considered at P ≤ 0.10. Average diameter of myosin heavy chain (MHC) type I and IIB/X fibers was increased (P ≤ 0.048) in LPS offspring compared with CON. Average cross-sectional area was increased (P = 0.030) in MHC IIB/X fibers and tended to be increased (P = 0.080) in MHC I fibers of LPS offspring. There were no differences (P = 0.186) between treatment groups for total nuclei or nuclei positive for MYF5, PAX7, or MYF5 and PAX7 nuclei. Metabolomic analyses identified 14 differentially expressed (P < 0.05) metabolites in the LD between treatment groups. There were 10 metabolites within the LD that tended (P ≤ 0.096) to differ between treatment groups. Thus, this study shows that in utero immune stimulation using LPS in gestating sows and a subsequent LPS challenge postnatally alters the metabolomic profile and muscle ultrastructure of the LD in weaned pigs.