Medium-chain TAG improve energy metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis in the liver of intra-uterine growth-retarded and normal-birth-weight weanling piglets

We previously reported that medium-chain TAG (MCT) could alleviate hepatic oxidative damage in weanling piglets with intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). There is a relationship between oxidative status and energy metabolism, a process involved in substrate availability and glucose flux. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of IUGR and MCT on hepatic energy metabolism and mitochondrial function in weanling piglets. Twenty-four IUGR piglets and twenty-four normal-birth-weight (NBW) piglets were fed a diet of either soyabean oil (SO) or MCT from 21 d of postnatal age to 49 d of postnatal age. Then, the piglets' biochemical parameters and gene expressions related to energy metabolism and mitochondrial function were determined (n 4). Compared with NBW, IUGR decreased the ATP contents and succinate oxidation rates in the liver of piglets, and reduced hepatic mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS) activity (P<0.05). IUGR piglets exhibited reductions in hepatic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) contents and gene expressions related to mitochondrial biogenesis compared with NBW piglets (P<0.05). The MCT diet increased plasma ghrelin concentration and hepatic CS and succinate dehydrogenase activities, but decreased hepatic pyruvate kinase activity compared with the SO diet (P<0.05). The MCT-fed piglets showed improved mtDNA contents and PPAR gamma coactivator-1 alpha expression in the liver (P<0.05). The MCT diet alleviated decreased mRNA abundance of the hepatic PPAR alpha induced by IUGR (P<0.05). It can therefore be postulated that MCT may have beneficial effects in improving energy metabolism and mitochondrial function in weanling piglets.