Maternal Metabolic Demands Caused by Pregnancy and Lactation: Association with Productivity and Offspring Phenotype in High-Yielding Dairy Ewes.

Pregnancy and lactation, especially when concurrent, create a rather metabolically demanding situation in dairy ruminants, but little is known about their effects on offspring phenotype and milk yield. Here, we evaluated the impact of pregnancy and lactation on the metabolic traits and productive performance of Lacaune dairy sheep and their offspring. Productive performance was measured in terms of milk yield, body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), and size.

Influence of Maternal Factors (Weight, Body Condition, Parity, and Pregnancy Rank) on Plasma Metabolites of Dairy Ewes and Their Lambs.

Pregnancy and lactation are challenging states that affect maternal and lamb health. In Lacaune dairy sheep, we evaluated the impact of parity, pregnancy rank, and body condition on body weight and the condition of ewes and lambs in mid-pregnancy (75 ± 5 d), in late pregnancy (142 ± 4d), and postpartum (52 ± 5d pp). Maternal age was associated with initial decreases, followed by increases, in body weight and condition.

Antioxidant homeostasis is disturbed in fetuses with leptin-resistant genotypes: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Leptin resistance is associated with lower reproductive efficiency, with deficiencies in embryo viability and growth leading to low prolificacy and high incidence of intrauterine growth restriction.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the leptin-resistance, evaluating the antioxidant homeostasis of leptin-resistant and lean swine fetuses.

Materials And Methods: The study included 70 plasma samples from fetuses at day 62 of gestation (mid-pregnancy), from breeds with (Iberian breed; n=35) and without leptin resistance (25% Large White x 25% Landrace x 50% Pietrain; n=35).