Reduced amino acids: the placenta after maternal vertical sleeve gastrectomy in the rat
Abstract
Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) is a surgical weight loss procedure used to reduce the comorbidities of Metabolic Syndrome improving obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Both in humans and rodents, maternal bariatric surgery prior to pregnancy results in challenges during pregnancy including increased small‐for‐gestational age offspring that we have shown in the rodent model of VSG develop greater metabolic disease later in life compared to obese controls. A common gestational cause of poor growth in utero is maternal protein deficiency. Previously, we published that VSG dams had normal levels of plasma amino acids in the fasting condition and following a protein shake gavage. We did not find any gross abnormalities in plasma amino acids under these conditions. In the current work, we hypothesized that the maternal levels were sufficient and that the transporters within the placenta may be differentially transporting amino acids to the fetus. Using gestational day 19 placenta from pregnant Lean, Obese and post‐VSG dams, we performed analysis of the amino acid content of the placenta and prepared placental mRNA for quantitative PCR analysis of genes associated with amino acid transport. Aliphatic Amino acids: isoleucine, leucine, proline and valine were statistically reduced in comparison to Lean dam levels (p). Phenylalanine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid, arginine, histidine and methionine were also significantly reduced (p). Furthermore, amino acid transporter SLC38A1 (SNAT1) and SLC38A4 (SNAT4) showed trends towards reductions in both VSG and Obese dams. On the contrary, SLC38A2 (SNAT2) and SLC7a7 (LAT1) was significantly elevated (p) in VSG in comparison to Lean and Obese. Collectively, these data suggest that despite healthy ingestion of proteins by the mother, alterations in amino acid availability to the fetus may be obstructed by the placenta after bariatric surgery. More work is needed in order to determine the relevance of these findings to the human condition.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.lb555
Entities
People
- Alexandra Himel
- Bernadette E Grayson
- Bradley Welch
- Brittany Duncan
- Redin Spann
Organizations
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- United States Department of Defense
- University of Mississippi