In the past several years, the use of resistant starch (RS) as prebiotic has extensively been studied in pigs, and this mostly in the critical period around weaning. RS is believed to exert beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract mainly due to higher levels of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and an improved microbiota profile. In this study, sows were fed digestible starch (DS) or RS during late gestation and lactation and the possible maternal effect of RS on the overall health of the progeny was assessed. Since RS is also described to have a positive effect on metabolism, and to investigate a metabolic programming of the progeny, half of the piglets per maternal diet were assigned to a high fat diet from weaning on to 10 weeks after. No bodyweight differences were found between the four experimental piglet groups. The high fat diet did however impact back fat thickness and meat percentage whereas maternal diet did not influence these parameters. The impact of the high fat diet was also reflected in higher levels of serum cholesterol. No major differences in microbiota could be distinguished, although higher levels of SCFA were seen in the colon of piglets born from RS fed sows, and some differences in SCFA production were observed in the caecum, mainly due to piglet diet. RNA-sequencing on liver and colon scrapings revealed minor differences between the maternal diet groups. Merely a handful of genes was differentially expressed between piglets from DS and RS sows, and network analysis showed only one significant cluster of genes in the liver due to the maternal diet that did not point to meaningful biological pathways. However, the high fat diet resulted in liver gene clusters that were significantly correlated with piglet diet, of which one is annotated for lipid metabolic processes. These clusters were not correlated with maternal diet. There is only a minor impact of maternal dietary RS on the progeny, reflected in SCFA changes. A high fat diet given to the progeny directly evokes metabolic changes in the liver, without any maternal programming by a RS diet.

中文翻译：

---

当受到高脂肪饮食的挑战时，产妇抗饮食性淀粉不能改善仔猪的肠道和肝脏代谢。

在过去的几年中，已广泛研究了在猪中使用抗性淀粉（RS）作为益生元，这主要是在断奶前后的关键时期。据信，RS对胃肠道产生有益作用，这主要是由于短链脂肪酸（SCFA）含量较高和微生物群分布改善。在这项研究中，母猪在妊娠后期和哺乳期饲喂可消化的淀粉（DS）或RS，并评估了RS对子代整体健康的可能母体效应。由于还描述了RS对代谢具有积极作用，并研究了子代的代谢程序，因此从断奶至断奶后10周，每个母体饮食的仔猪有一半被分配为高脂饮食。在四个实验仔猪组之间未发现体重差异。然而，高脂饮食确实会影响背部脂肪的厚度和肉含量，而孕产妇饮食则不会影响这些参数。高脂饮食的影响还反映在较高的血清胆固醇水平上。尽管在用RS喂养的母猪出生的仔猪结肠中发现较高水平的SCFA，并且在盲肠中观察到SCFA产量的某些差异，这主要是由于仔猪的饮食，但没有明显的微生物群差异。肝脏和结肠刮片上的RNA测序显示孕妇饮食组之间的细微差异。在DS和RS母猪的仔猪中，仅有少数基因差异表达，而且网络分析显示，由于母体饮食没有指向有意义的生物学途径，肝脏中只有一个重要的基因簇。然而，高脂饮食导致肝脏基因簇与仔猪饮食显着相关，其中一个被注释为脂质代谢过程。这些簇与产妇饮食无关。产妇饮食RS对后代的影响很小，这反映在SCFA变化中。给后代的高脂饮食直接引起肝脏的代谢变化，而无需通过RS饮食进行任何产妇编程。