Oral Presentation ESA-SRB Conference 2015

Restricted placental growth does not reduce spontaneous activity in the adolescent or young adult sheep. (#81)

Manpreet Kaur 1 , Amy L Wooldridge 1 , Michael J Wilkes 2 , Philip I Hynd 2 , Glenn K McConell 3 , Kathryn L Gatford 4
  1. Robinson Research Institute and School of Paediatrics & Reproductive Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  2. School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  3. Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, College of Sport and Exercise Science, and College of Health and Biomedicine, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  4. Robinson Research Institute and School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) increases the risk of metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adult life. Increased lifetime or childhood exercise or activity correlates with lower T2D risk (1,2), such that decreased activity in IUGR individuals might explain their increased risk of T2D. Retrospective human data suggests that IUGR decreases activity in adulthood (3,4), but such studies may be confounded by differences in the postnatal environment. Impaired placental function is a major cause of human IUGR in developed countries, and restricted placental function and hence fetal growth (PR) in sheep impairs postnatal glucose tolerance, insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. We hypothesised that PR would decrease spontaneous activity in adolescent and adult sheep. Spontaneous activity in 14 control (CON: 5 M, 9 F) and 19 PR sheep (9 M, 10 F) was recorded as distance travelled during two 18-hour trials per sheep in adolescence (204 ± 1  d old) and young adulthood (294 ± 1 d old) using Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS devices. Ewes and rams were housed in adjacent paddocks. PR reduced birth weight by ~12% in this cohort (P=0.015). In adolescents, total distance travelled during the trials did not differ between CON and PR sheep (P>0.6), was 12% greater in females than males (P=0.045), and correlated negatively with maximum daily temperature (P=0.041). In young adults, activity was greater in PR than CON (P=0.004) and did not differ between sexes (P>0.2). At both ages, distance travelled varied with time (each P<0.001), peaking during the evening and morning. These diurnal patterns of activity are consistent with previous studies in sheep (5). Our data suggests that PR does not reduce activity in adolescent or young adult sheep, and we are currently assessing whether greater levels of early life exercise predict better adult metabolic outcomes in sheep, as in humans.

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