Maternal manipulation of brown adipose tissue and liver development in the ovine fetus during late gestation

We examined the effect of maternal chronic cold exposure, induced by winter-shearing ewes 4 weeks before their predicted lambing date, on brown adipose tissue (BAT)and liver development in lambs. Fetuses were sampled from under-fed (60% of energy requirements for maintenance and pregnancy of an unshorn ewe) shorn or unshorn ewes at 126, 140 and 145 d of gestation. Lambs were sampled from ewes within 2 h of birth. Throughout gestation fetal body, BAT and liver weights were similar in shorn and unshorn groups. The level of GDP binding to mitochondrial uncoupling protein remained low throughout gestation, but increased dramatically after birth. Lambs born to shorn ewes possessed more mitochondrial protein and exhibited a significantly higher total thermogenic activity in BAT. Type I iodothyronine 5'deiodinase (EC 3.8.1.4) activity in BAT peaked at birth, as did hepatic iodothyronine 5'deiodinase activity and was significantly greater in lambs born to underfed shorn ewes, which exhibited a higher plasma triiodothyronine concentration. Chronic maternal adaptations to prolonged cold exposure appear to enable pregnant ewes to compensate for the negative effects of under-feeding on fetal growth and development.