Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) refers to poor growth of a fetus during pregnancy due to deficient maternal nutrition or oxygen supply. Supplementation of a mother’s diet with antioxidants, such as hydroxytyrosol (HTX), has been proposed to ameliorate the adverse phenotypes of IUGR.
1. Introduction
The effect of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR, also known as fetal growth restriction, FGR) is characterized by a deficit in growth and weight of the individual due to a lack of nutrients or oxygen or an alteration in the placenta that can lead to a lack of these essential components for development
[1]. In IUGR, the “brain-sparing” effect occurs, in which blood flow to the brain increases to ensure its development. That is, there is an asymmetric growth of the individual in such a way that brain development is prioritized to ensure the maintenance of the critical physiological functions of the newborn, such as breathing, suckling, and other autonomic functions, which improve the chances of vitality and survival. This effect has been described in different species of mammals, including pigs, sheep, humans, and guinea pigs
[1,2][1][2].
However, “brain-sparing” does not completely guarantee the normal development of the brain or its function, since it has been described that the offspring affected by IUGR (low body weight, LBW) can suffer from behavioral disorders related to mobility and cognitive, memory, and neurophysiological dysfunctions
[3,4][3][4]. The animal models studied have shown that individuals affected by IUGR presented alterations in the hippocampus with consequences in normal neurological development
[5]. IUGR is also associated with excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which may occur at specific windows of placental development and, for these reasons, supplementation of maternal diets with antioxidants (e.g., antioxidant vitamins and melatonin) has been investigated as a potential way to ameliorate adverse phenotypes
[6,7,8,9,10][6][7][8][9][10]. Hydroxytyrosol (HTX) is a potent antioxidant, present in olive fruits and virgin olive oil, that presents regulatory properties in metabolism, inflammation, and immunomodulation and also acts as neuroprotector in human pathologies and animal models
[11,12,13,14][11][12][13][14]. The beneficial effects of HTX are mainly attributed to its potent antioxidant and ROS scavenger activities, which are able to counteract the pernicious consequences of oxidative stress in the organism. Furthermore, other potential mechanisms with a direct effect on regulatory enzymes such as p38 and JNK have been proposed
[11].
Caloric restriction in sows during the third trimester of gestation affects fetal development and induces lower birth weight in newborns, being a well-known animal model of IUGR widely used by our groups in previous studies
[15,16][15][16]. In this model, the NBW and LBW animals are born from the same mothers, thus avoiding the effect of the mother in the statistical evaluation of the results.
In previous studies from our laboratories, maternal HTX supplementation in this porcine model was associated with higher mean birth weight and lower incidence of low-birth-weight piglets. The positive effects of HTX administration were sustained during lactation, leading to increased body weight at weaning
[17]. It also resulted in deviations in body composition and metabolic indices, suggesting increased potential for growth and viability that was confirmed in a later study
[18]. Later, the effects of HTX on fetal antioxidant status, placental gene expression, and fat metabolism were demonstrated
[19,20,21][19][20][21]. Nonetheless, maternal supplementation with HTX during pregnancy also influenced brain parameters since it affected the neurotransmitter (NT) profile in a brain-area-dependent mode and it modified the process of neuron differentiation in the hippocampal
Cornu Ammonis subfield 1 (CA1) and
Dentate Gyrus (DG) areas, indicating that cell differentiation occurred more rapidly in the HTX group than in the control group
[22]. These effects were specific to the fetal period, concomitantly with HTX maternal supplementation, since no major differences were detected in 1-month- and 6-month-old pigs.
Since the effects of maternal HTX supplementation on neurotransmission and hippocampal morphology were observed only in 100-day fetuses
[22], we decided to evaluate whether the effects of HTX were influenced by the body weight of the offspring. Thus, the specific goals of the present work were to study whether the body weight of the fetuses (NBW or LBW) could differentially influence the morphological analysis of the hippocampus and the NT levels in various areas of the brain, and if HTX supplementation of the maternal diet could partially or totally reverse the effects of IUGR.
2. Effects of Maternal Supplementation with HTX on Immunohistochemical Markers in the Hippocampus of NBW and LBW Fetuses
Antibodies against NeuN, DCX, and NFT, markers of mature neurons, immature neurons, and neurofilaments, respectively, were used to analyze the effects of IUGR and HTX on the morphology and development of the hippocampus.
NeuN is a marker of neuronal bodies and nuclei in mature neurons and, thus, NeuN staining was used to analyze the number and distribution of mature neurons in CA1 and DG areas in the hippocampus of 100-day fetuses and to assess the effects of IUGR and HTX (
Figure 1). Higher positivity was observed in the NBW fetuses than in the LBW fetuses, thus indicating that the NBW animals had a higher number of mature neurons. The quantitative results obtained after image analysis are presented in
Table 1. Quantitatively, the effect of weight was significant only in CA1, but not in DG, indicating that IUGR affected mainly this region. The cell count was lower in LBW fetuses, with a higher mean cell nuclei size and area percentage.
Figure 1. Effect of Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) on NeuN immunostaining on the hippocampus of fetuses whose mothers were not HTX-supplemented (A,B) or were HTX-supplemented (C,D). Representative images show the mature neurons immunostained with the NeuN antibody. Panels are magnifications of the CA1 (a1–d1) and GD (a2–d2) areas shown using black boxes. Scale bars: 500 µm (A–D), and 100 µm (a1–d1, a2–d2).
Table 1. Effect of body weight and supplementation of the maternal diet with hydroxytyrosol (HTX) on NeuN immunostaining in the CA1 and DG areas of the hippocampus of 100-day-old fetuses.
|
NBW |
LBW |
p-Values |
|
|
Treatment |
Body Weight |
Interaction |
Body Weight |
Sex |
Interaction |
CA1 |
Cell Count |
CTRL |
143.06 ± 9.02 Aa |
87.25 ± 11.40 Ab |
<0.001 |
0.004 |
0.035 |
NA |
NBW |
68.58 ± 3.56 |
68.76 ± 4.65 |
0.421 |
0.915 |
0.990 |
HTX |
170.86 ± 9.69 Ba |
162.00 ± 6.04 Ba |
Mean size (µm2) |
CTRL |
1352.44 ± 247.19 Aa |
2961.48 ± 676.06 Ab |
<0.001 |
0.013 |
0.015 |
HTX |
HTX817.85 ± 61.87 Aa |
88.85 ± 5.18 Aa834.88 ± 44.94 Ba |
85.58 ± 9.92 | Aa |
Area (%) |
CTRL |
33.48 ± 1.29 Aa |
41.63 ± 2.76 |
DOPAC | Ab |
CTRL |
53.72 ± 7.22 Aa |
57.24 ± 16.99 Aa | <0.001 |
0.007 |
0.033 |
<0.001 |
HTX |
30.07 ± 0.99 Aa |
31.07 ± 1.14 Ba |
0.703 |
0.824 |
HTX |
76.71 ± 8.73 Ba |
97.42 ± 32.47 Aa |
DG |
62.72 ± 21.23 |
Cell Count |
CTRL |
HVA |
CTRL |
197.59 ± 14.50 Aa |
HVA | 259.56 ± 31.19 | Ab |
NBW | <0.001 |
0.076 |
0.404 |
LBW |
75.95 ± 10.79 |
77.03 ± 12.90 |
228.31 ± 13.48 |
235.27 ± 18.19 |
0.107 |
0.715 |
0.619 |
HTX |
270.10 ± 14.04 Ba |
306.08 ± 46.88 Aa |
LBW |
293.77 ± 39.25 |
DOPtotal |
CTRL |
347.17 ± 24.87 Aa |
423.54 ± 49.48 Aa |
0.001 |
0.140 |
0.480 |
260.24 ± 35.56 |
DOPtotal |
NBW |
387.38 ± 21.60 |
389.30 ± 27.33 |
0.170 |
0.735 |
0.700 |
HTX |
435.66 ± 19.97 Ba |
489.08 ± 78.44 Aa |
LBW |
467.42 ± 60.54 |
428.80 ± 61.21 |
CATtotal |
CTRL |
404.99 ± 26.96 Aa |
497.00 ± 59.46 Aa |
<0.001 |
0.151 |
CATtotal | 0.433 |
NBW |
HTX |
516.86 ± 22.09 Ba |
570.61 ± 88.46 Aa |
5-HT |
CTRL |
DA |
NBW |
93.89 ± 9.38 |
90.81 ± 7.82 |
0.316 |
0.546 |
0.656 |
LBW |
91.75 ± 12.57 |
105.85 ± 13.58 |
455.96 ± 23.58 |
458.07 ± 30.75 |
0.185 |
0.747 | 167.74 ± 8.29 Aa |
221.61 ± 17.48 Ab |
0.017 |
0.482 |
0.019 |
HTX |
0.155 |
DOPAC |
NBW |
65.19 ± 7.76 |
63.23 ± 8.49 |
0.928 |
0.413 |
0.534 | 216.95 ± 11.75 Ba |
0.461 |
0.096 |
LBW |
81.90 ± 25.69 |
0.753 |
LBW |
543.38 ± 70.25 |
505.83 ± 72.12 |
5-HT |
NBW |
188.55 ± 10.20 |
193.35 ± 11.11 |
195.07 ± 31.84 Aa |
79.91 ± 2.25 | Aa |
79.33 ± 4.55 | Aa |
0.045 |
0.831 |
0.719 |
HTX |
86.50 ± 3.64 Aa |
88.75 ± 6.03 Aa |
Mean size (µm2) |
CTRL |
1449.37 ± 51.72 Aa |
1620.75 ± 116.92 Aa |
<0.001 |
0.677 |
0.014 |
HTX |
1248.78 ± 62.85 Ba |
1009.78 ± 48.95 Ba |
Area (%) |
CTRL |
26.34 ± 0.55 Aa |
28.76 ± 0.61 Ab |
<0.001 |
0.282 |
<0.001 |
HTX |
24.49 ± 0.49 Ba |
20.52 ± 0.76 Bb |