Effect of fat deposition on placental function in Shaziling sows and modulation by resveratrol

Xizi Yang; Ruizhi Hu; Wentao Zhang; Mingkun Shi; Zhiyong Fan; Xi He; Chenxing Fu; Liang Chen; Hongfu Zhang; Xupeng Yuan; Maisheng Wu; Yulian Li; Hong Tan; Jianhua He; Shusong Wu

doi:10.1016/j.aninu.2025.08.009

Effect of fat deposition on placental function in Shaziling sows and modulation by resveratrol

Anim Nutr. 2025 Dec 6:24:368-377. doi: 10.1016/j.aninu.2025.08.009. eCollection 2026 Mar.

Authors

Xizi Yang¹, Ruizhi Hu¹, Wentao Zhang¹, Mingkun Shi¹, Zhiyong Fan¹, Xi He¹, Chenxing Fu¹, Liang Chen², Hongfu Zhang², Xupeng Yuan³, Maisheng Wu⁴, Yulian Li⁴, Hong Tan⁴, Jianhua He¹, Shusong Wu¹

Affiliations

¹ Hunan Collaborative Innovation Center for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingredients, College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
³ College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Biological and Electromechanical Polytechnic, Changsha 410127, China.
⁴ Animal Breeding Station of Xiangtan, Xiangtan 411104, China.

Abstract

Excessive fat deposition is considered as an important factor impairing reproductive performance in sows, and resveratrol (RES) has shown a hypolipidemic effect in previous studies. This study aimed to investigate the impact of fat deposition on reproductive performance of Shaziling sows, and further clarify the intervention by RES. Fifty-six lard-type Shaziling sows at 75 d of gestation (G75d) were divided into four groups (n = 14) based on backfat thickness (BT): backfat thickness between 20 to 24 mm (NBT) and backfat thickness between 26 to 30 mm (HBT). The NBT-CTL and HBT-CTL groups were fed a basal diet, while NBT-RES and HBT-RES were fed a diet containing 500 mg/kg RES until delivery. Results showed that HBT sows had lower total litter weight (P = 0.008), average weight of total births (P < 0.001), live litter weight (P < 0.001), average weight of live birth (P < 0.001), and placental efficiency (P = 0.013), but higher average process of farrowing (P < 0.001) and stillbirth (P = 0.005), while RES recovered these indicators significantly. In addition, HBT sows showed lower placental vascular density with decreased fluorescence intensity of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD31; P = 0.006) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF; P = 0.001), and expression of nutrient transport genes including sodium coupled neutral amino acid transporter 1 (SNAT1; P = 0.029), cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36; P = 0.004). RES increased nutrient transport genes including glucose transporter protein 3 (GLUT3; P < 0.001), GLUT4 (P = 0.014), cationic amino acid transporter 1 (CAT-1; P = 0.005), SNAT2 (P = 0.015), and plasma membrane fatty acid binding protein (FABPpm; P = 0.009), but increased placental vascular density by increasing the expression of placental angiogenesis (FGF; P = 0.013), placental growth factor (PlGF; P < 0.001) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A; P = 0.013) in placenta. Additionally, RES recovered the phosphorylation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K; P < 0.001), protein kinase B (AKT; P < 0.001), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR; P < 0.001) in placenta of HBT sows. These findings suggest that excessive fat deposition can impair reproductive performance, which is rescued by RES by increasing the expression of placental nutrient transport and angiogenesis genes in lard-type Shaziling sows, and PI3K may play an important role.

Keywords: Angiogenesis; Backfat thickness; Fat deposition; Placental function; Resveratrol; Shaziling sow.