Effect of maternal feed restriction in dairy goats at different stages of gestation on skeletal muscle development and energy metabolism of kids at the time of births

The aim was to determine effects of maternal feed restriction in dairy goats at gestational different stages on skeletal muscle development and energy metabolism in kids at birth. Six pregnant goats were fed 50% of total digestible nutrients (TDN) and crude protein (CP) (NRC, 2007) recommendations in the first half of gestation and then fed to 100% of the recommendations in the second half of gestation (treatment R-M). In the other group, eight pregnant goats were fed 100% of TDN and CP in the first half of gestation and 50% of a restricted diet the second half of gestation (treatment M-R). Birth weight, blood glucose concentration, muscle fiber number, and size of kids at birth were not affected by maternal feed restriction. The mRNA and protein abundance of myogenic, adipogenic and fibrogenic markers were not affected (P > 0.05) by maternal diet. With regard to values for variables in kid energy metabolism, mRNA abundance of the glycolic enzyme HKII was less (P = 0.03) in the M-R group. In conclusion, maternal feed restriction in the first or second half of gestation had no affect mRNA abundance on myogenic, adipogenic, and fibrogenic markers nor were there changes in skeletal muscle mesenchymal stem cell population of kids at the time of birth. There, however, may be detrimental effects on energy metabolism by reducing HKII gene expression in skeletal muscle of dairy goat kids at the time of birth.