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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 285/1/E224    most recent 00050.2003v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Khan, A. S. Articles by Draghia-Akli, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Khan, A. S. Articles by Draghia-Akli, R.

Maternal GHRH plasmid administration changes pituitary cell lineage and improves progeny growth of pigs

¹ADViSYS, Inc., The Woodlands 77381; and ²Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030

Submitted 5 February 2003 ; accepted in final form 29 March 2003

Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that administration of a myogenic plasmid that encodes a protease-resistant growth hormone-releasing hormone (HV-GHRH) to pregnant rat dams augmented long-term growth in first-generation progeny. In the present study, gilts were injected intra-muscularly at day 85 of gestation with 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, or 5 mg of the HV-GHRH-expressing plasmid and were then electroporated. Piglets were weighed and bled periodically from birth to 100 kg. Piglets from gilts treated with 1 and 5 mg of HV-GHRH plasmid were larger at birth and weaning compared with controls. These two groups reached 100 kg 9 days earlier than the other groups. GHRH levels were increased at birth in piglets from treated gilts. IGF-I levels were significantly increased in the 5-mg group beginning at 21 days of age compared with controls. Pituitaries from the 5-mg group contained a significantly increased number of somatotrophs and lactotrophs from birth to 100 kg. This study confirms that enhanced maternal GHRH production results in intergenerational growth augmentation and that the magnitude of the response is dose dependent. The similarity of the response across species suggests that the effect is likely exerted as a fundamental component of gestational and developmental physiology.

growth hormone-releasing hormone; insulin-like growth factor I; electroporation

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Draghia-Akli and M. L. Fiorotto A new plasmid-mediated approach to supplement somatotropin production in pigs J Anim Sci, January 1, 2004; 82(13_suppl): E264 - 269. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]