Maternal dietary antioxidants enrichment regulates weaned piglets’ adipose tissue functionality

Homeostasis during the perinatal period is critical for the correct development of mammals and unbalances in the redox potential are common in this stage. Thus, enrichment of maternal diets with antioxidants may be useful to improve piglet early development. We have tested the effects of sows’ diet enrichment with different antioxidants on the piglets’ adipose tissue functioning, in comparison to a control diet with a basal antioxidant level, by studying gene expression and cellularity. The maternal diet strongly influenced adipose tissue transcriptome of the offspring post-weaning. Piglets born to sows supplemented with either vitamin E or hydroxytyrosol show improved metabolic and antioxidant status of adipose tissue, while animals from control group show impaired homeostasis and activation of oxidative stress, immune signalling, and inflammation pathways. Moreover, vitamin E, when supplemented alone at a high dose, activated lipid metabolism and increased adipocyte size. When both vitamin E and hydroxytyrosol were combined, the gene expression profile was scarcely affected in comparison to the control, showing a prooxidant/proinflamatory adipose tissue, which is an unexpected result with different potential explanations. Findings deepen in the processes taking place in adipose tissue of genetically fat individuals and highlight the crucial role of antioxidants in fat cells metabolism In total 24 adipose tissue samples were analyzed, 6 coming from each experimental group: -Control group (C): 30 mg of all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate (Rovimix E-50, DSM)/kg feed. -Vitamin E group (VE): 100 mg of all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate/kg. -Hydroxytyrosol group (HT): 30 mg all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate/kg and 1.5 mg hydroxytyrosol/kg -Combined group (VEHT): 100 mg/kg of all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate/kg and 1.5 mg hydroxytyrosol/kg feed.