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Maternal exercise increases energy efficiency of fetal heart (886.4)
Author(s) -
May Linda,
Barrera Daniel,
Newcomer Sean,
Agbas Abdul
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.886.4
Subject(s) - offspring , pregnancy , fetus , medicine , endocrinology , heart disease , physiology , andrology , biology , genetics
Current research suggests exercise during pregnancy benefits the cardiovascular health of offspring. We have studied the effects of exercise during pregnancy on fetal cardiac mitochondrial ability to make energy. We hypothesized that regular maternal exercise during pregnancy increases the mitochondrial (energy) efficiency of fetal heart. Pregnant Duroc X Landrace cross pigs were subjected to exercise or not (controls). Offspring heart tissues were preserved at specific time points. Mitochondrial‐enriched pellets were obtained through differential centrifugation. Protein levels of OXPHOS enzymes, five complexes, were analyzed. Two of the OXPHOS enzyme levels (Complex‐II and ‐III) were decreased in the exercise group compared to controls. Enzyme kinetic analysis of Complex‐II indicated protein levels were low in exercise‐exposed offspring, but the specific activity level was significantly high (p蠄 0.001) compared to controls. There are trends of increased ATP production for exercise exposed fetal hearts. Our findings demonstrate a link between maternal exercise and increased mitochondrial efficiency to produce energy in offspring hearts. Our study begins to elucidate the benefits of maternal exercise on developing fetal hearts. These findings suggest that maternal exercise improves offspring hearts prior to birth and may help protect offspring from heart disease and heart failure later in life.