查看文章

Maternal nutrient restriction (NR) affects fetal development with long‐term consequences on postnatal health of offspring, including predisposition to obesity and diabetes. Most studies have been conducted in fetuses in late gestation, and little information is available on the persistent impact of NR from early to mid‐gestation on properties of offspring skeletal muscle, which was the aim of this study. Pregnant ewes were subjected to 50% NR from day 28–78 of gestation and allowed to deliver. The longissimus dorsi muscle was sampled from 8‐month‐old offspring. Maternal NR during early to mid‐gestation decreased the number of myofibres in the offspring and increased the ratio of myosin IIb to other isoforms by 17.6 ± 4.9% (P < 0.05) compared with offspring of ad libitum fed ewes. Activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase‐1, a key enzyme controlling fatty acid oxidation, was reduced by 24.7 ± 4.5% (P < 0.05) in …