Fetal programming in livestock: a unique opportunity for advancing translational DOHaD and animal agricultural research

Guest editors:  Dr. Sean Limesand and Dr. Weicheng Zhao

Metabolic perturbations during prenatal life can predispose offspring to metabolic syndrome throughout their lives. Over the past decades, domesticated animal models such as pigs, sheep, goats, and cattle have emerged, over traditional laboratory animals, as pivotal tools in studying pregnancy complications and fetal programming due to their physiological likeness to humans, larger size, longer lifespan and translational relevance. One important advantage of large animal species over laboratory animals is their long gestational period that makes them particularly useful for studying embryo, fetal development and placental function when using integrative approaches, including surgical procedures, imaging, or in vivo physiological studies. Furthermore, studying fetal programming in domesticated animals offers significant benefits for enhancing animal agriculture. By identifying and addressing prenatal growth defects, researchers can manipulate and develop early intervention strategies to sustain and improve birth outcomes and the postnatal growth, development, and productivity of livestock.

This themed issue welcomes the submission of original research and review papers addressing short-term or long-term consequences of fetal, placental, or postnatal adaptations to various prenatal exposures in livestock species. These exposures may include maternal diets, placental insufficiency, endocrine disruptors, hypoxia, heat stress, or other environmental factors. The areas of focus may include, but are not limited to, physiological, neuroendocrine, transcriptomic, proteomic, and epigenetic adaptations occurring in the embryo, placenta, and fetal or postnatal metabolic organs. This themed issue also aims to invite experts in the fields of developmental programming, fetal and neonatal physiology, nutrition, and animal production science to provide an overview of recent advances in the understanding of the developmental origins of prenatal and postnatal metabolic dysfunction and growth. These efforts would help us to better understand the mechanism of action and to identify future targets for intervention that would benefit both biomedical research and animal agriculture.

Submissions by October 2024