{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T21:32:30Z","timestamp":1789853550584,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]],"date-time":"2017-10-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1507852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Maternal nutrition during gestation is involved in the offspring\u2019s intestinal development and immunity. The aim of this study was to (1) determine the effects of maternal energy on intestinal digestion and absorption function in offspring, using pigs as a model; and (2) to evaluate the potential effect and mechanisms of maternal energy in modulating immune responses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged piglets. After mating, thirty-six nine-parity sows (Landrace \u00d7 Yorkshire), body weight (BW) (initial body weight 233.56 \u00b1 2.77 kg) were allocated to two dietary treatment groups; a control diet (CON) group and a low-energy diet (LED) group. The nutrient levels of the CON were based on the nutrient recommendations by the National Research Council (NRC, 2012), and contained 3.40 MCal digestible energy (DE)\/kg diet and 7.3% crude protein; while the LED contained 3.00 MCal DE\/kg diet. The dietary treatments were introduced from day 1 of gestation to farrowing. Intestine samples were collected from the pigs\u2019 offspring at birth, and at weaning (day 28 post-birth). At weaning, male pigs from control and LED groups were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (50 \u03bcg\/kg body weight) or saline (n = 6), and sacrificed at 4 h post-injection to collect blood, intestine and digesta samples for biochemical analysis. The results indicated that the maternal LED markedly decreased the BW, small intestinal weight, and the ratio of jejunum and ileum villus height to crypt depth in the offspring. Moreover, the activities of lactase and sucrase in newborn piglets\u2019 intestine, and sucrase and maltase in weaning piglet intestine were markedly decreased by the maternal LED. In addition, maternal LED significantly increased the mRNA relative expression of ileal IL-6 and TNF-\u03b1 in newborn piglets. Plasma IL-1\u03b2 concentration and colonic Escherichia coli amount were affected by maternal diet (p &lt; 0.05) and LPS challenge (p &lt; 0.001). Maternal LED significant increased the mRNA relative expression of ileal TLR-4, IL-1\u03b2 and NF-\u03baB as well as decreased ZO-1 in weaning pigs after LPS challenge (p &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, decreasing energy intake could suppress the offspring\u2019s intestinal digestion and absorption function, and increase the susceptibility of weaning piglets to LPS challenge.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu9101115","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]],"date-time":"2017-10-13T11:34:09Z","timestamp":1507894449000},"page":"1115","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":39,"title":["Effects of Maternal Low-Energy Diet during Gestation on Intestinal Morphology, Disaccharidase Activity, and Immune Response to Lipopolysaccharide Challenge in Pig Offspring"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Yuling","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9581-5418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daolin","family":"Mou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liang","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jie","family":"Zhen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lianqiang","family":"Che","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhengfeng","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shengyu","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6258-2729","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bin","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7025-823X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"De","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, No. 211, Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s00726-009-0269-0","article-title":"Amino acids: Metabolism, functions, and nutrition","volume":"37","author":"Wu","year":"2009","journal-title":"Amino Acids"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"F71","DOI":"10.1136\/fn.81.1.F71","article-title":"Low birthweight and adult insulin resistance: the \u201ccatch-up growth\u201d hypothesis","volume":"81","author":"Cianfarani","year":"1999","journal-title":"Arch. 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