Project Grant 20246703442236

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** POOR COLOSTRUM CONSUMPTION BY NEONATAL GILTS HAS BEEN LINKED TO POOR GROWTH AND REPRODUCTIVE COMPETENCY AT PUBERTY, WHICH CAN LEAD TO PREMATURE CULLING. COLOSTRUM IS RICH IN IMMUNOGLOBULINS TO SUPPORT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, BUT ALSO HAS BIOACTIVE FACTORS LIKE GROWTH FACTORS, THAT MAY HELP INITIATE PATHWAYS NEEDED FOR NUTRIENT METABOLISM. PREVIOUS STUDIES IN OUR LAB, HAVE LINKED INCREASED COLOSTRUM CONSUMPTION TO BETTER REPRODUCTIVE COMPETENCY AT PUBERTY, AND IN TURN, WHEN PIGLETS DID NOT RECEIVE COLOSTRUM THERE WAS AN ACCUMULATION OF VERY LONG CHAIN FATTY ACIDS IN THE VAGINA OF PUBERTY AGE GILTS. THE PEROXISOME IS A CELLULAR ORGANELLE THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR METABOLIZING VERY LONG CHAIN FATTY ACIDS, AND FURTHER STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED PROTEOME SIGNATURES THAT DEMONSTRATED PEROXISOMAL DYSREGULATION. HOWEVER, THE PEROXISOME IS NOT THE ONLY CELLULAR ORGANELLE RESPONSIBLE FOR FAT METABOLISM IN VARIOUS TISSUES NOR IS THE VAGINA A PRIMARY SITE FOR FAT METABOLISM IN THE BODY. THEREFORE, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT POOR FAT METABOLISM IN NEONATAL PIGS DUE TO INADEQUATE COLOSTRUM CONSUMPTION IS NOT LOCALIZED TO THE VAGINA AND IS LIKELY SYSTEMIC, AND THE MITOCHONDRIA, ANOTHER CELLULAR ORGANELLE NECESSARY FOR FAT METABOLISM, MAY BE EXPERIENCING DYSREGULATION LIKE THE PEROXISOME.THE INVESTIGATE THIS HYPOTHESIS, 60 FEMALE NEONATAL PIGLETS WILL BE IDENTIFIED AT BIRTH AND BIRTH BODY WEIGHT (BBW) WILL BE IMMEDIATELY OBTAINED. PIGLETS ONLY WITHIN 1.3 TO 1.7 KG WILL BE USED AND PIGLETS WILL BE ALLOCATED TO 1 OF 6 TREATMENTS: COLOSTRUM FED AT 20% OF BBW (COL20; N=10), COLOSTRUM FED AT 10% OF BBW (COL10; N=10), FORMULA FED AT 20% OF BBW (PF-20; N=10), FORMULA FED AT 10% OF BBW (PF-10; N=10), PIGLETS THAT WILL RECEIVE AD LIBITUM COLOSTRUM FROM THE SOW (SOS; N=10), AND PIGLETS THAT WILL BE IMMEDIATELY EUTHANIZED AT BIRTH (ZERO-HOUR; N=10). PIGLETS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO SUCKLE FROM THE SOW, UNLESS ALLOCATED TO THE SOS GROUP. ANIMALS ALLOCATED TO EITHER COL OR PF WILL BE FED THEIR ALLOTTED AMOUNT OF COLOSTRUM OR FORMULA EVERY 2 HOURS OVER A 24 H PERIOD. AFTER RECEIVING THEIR TREATMENTS FOR 24 HOURS, PIGLETS WILL BE EUTHANIZED AND THE LIVER TISSUE WILL BE COLLECTED. THE LIVER TISSUE WILL BE INCUBATED IN STABLE ISOTOPES TO TRACK CARBON MOVEMENT FROM FATS, GLUCOSE, AND OTHER PRECURSORS. ANOTHER PIECE OF LIVER TISSUE WILL BE COLLECTED TO EVALUATE ALL OF THE GENES CHANGED DUE TO COLOSTRUM CONSUMPTION. WE WILL MATCH THESE DATASETS TO CREATE A GLOBAL MOLECULAR PICTURE OF THE PIGLET LIVER.FROM THESE DATA, WE WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL BOTTLENECKS, IMPAIRMENTS, OR ROAD-BLOCKS IN METABOLISM WHEN PIGLETS ARE NOT FED ADEQUATE AMOUNTS OF COLOSTRUM. WE WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY MOLECULAR TARGETS FOR FUTURE STUDIES TO DEVELOP INTERVENTION STRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF POOR COLOSTRUM CONSUMPTION. WE WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO GIVE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE LEVEL OF COLOSTRUM PIGLETS SHOULD CONSUME TO SUPPORT GROWTH AND REPRODUCTIVE COMPETENCY AT PUBERTY.