Impact of diet deprivation and subsequent over-allowance during prepuberty. Part 1. Effects on growth performance, metabolite status, and mammary gland development in gilts

The impact of diet deprivation and subsequent over-allowance on the metabolite status, mammary development, and mammary gene expression in prepubertal gilts was determined. Forty-seven gilts were reared under a conventional (control, CTL; n = 23) or an experimental (treatment, TRT; n = 24) dietary regimen. The later regimen (consisting of diet deprivation and subsequent over-allowance) provided 70 (restriction diet, RES) and 115% (over-allowance diet, OVER) of the protein and DE contents provided by the CTL diet. Experimental diets were fed ad libitum starting at 27.7 ± 3.4 kg of BW as follows: 3 wk RES, 3 wk OVER, 4 wk RES, and 4 wk OVER. At each diet change, BW and individual feed intakes were measured, and blood samples for metabolite and IGF-I assays were obtained. Some gilts (11 CTL and 12 TRT) were slaughtered on d 235 (after reaching puberty) to collect mammary tissue for compositional analyses and measures of gene expression. Body weight gain (P < 0.01) and G:F (P < 0.05) of gilts were reduced during each period with the RES diet; however, there was no compensatory growth during the periods when the OVER diet was fed. Feeding the RES diet reduced concentrations of urea and IGF-I (P < 0.01) and feeding the OVER diet increased FFA (P < 0.01) and glucose (P < 0.10) in TRT gilts compared with CTL gilts. The TRT gilts had less parenchymal tissue (P < 0.05) and tended to have less total parenchymal fat and protein (P < 0.10) than CTL gilts. The mammary mRNA relative abundance of the signal transducers and activators of transduction 5B was decreased in TRT compared with CTL gilts (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the diet deprivation and over-allowance regimen used in the growing-finishing period did not have beneficial effects on mammary development after puberty. In fact, a detrimental effect was observed.