PSVII-5 Effect of maternal feed restriction at different stages of gestation on development of gastrointestinal tract of newborn goats

We assessed the effect of maternal feed restriction at different stages of gestation on growth and development of organs and small intestine of newborn goats. A total of 14 pregnant dams were randomly divided into one of the follow dietary treatments: Animals fed at 50% of maintenance requirement from 8-84 d of gestation and then fed at 100% maintenance requirement from day 85 of gestation to parturition (R-M, n = 6), and animals fed at 100% of maintenance requirement from 8-84 d of gestation and then fed at 50% maintenance requirement from day 85 of gestation to parturition (M-R, n = 8). At birth, newborns were slaughtered for collection of corporal components. No differences were observed among treatments for birth weight (P = 0.46). The weight of the complex reticulum-rumen-omasum tended to be heavier (P = 0.057) in the M-R group, when expressed per kg of body weight. The small intestine (P = 0.038) and total intestine (P = 0.038) were heavier in the offspring of the M-R group when expressed in kg of body weight. The M-R newborns had greater length of the small intestine (P = 0.043) and total intestine (P = 0.026). Maternal feed restriction did not influence the intestinal villi height (P = 0.406). However, newborn from R-M group had lower villus height:crypt depth ratio (P = 0.016), due to the tendency of the greater of crypt depth in these animals (P = 0.081). No differences among treatments were observed in mRNA expression of the MGAM and GLP-2R in the jejunum of the offspring (P > 0.12). Newborns of the M-R group tended to present greater mRNA abundance of the SLC5A1 (P = 0.091), SLC2A2 (P = 0.091), and OCLN (P = 0.061). In summary, restriction in the first half of gestation may be more detrimental to the performance and health of offspring throughout life due to increased impairment of intestinal development.