CALF_News_April_May_2021

18 CALF News • April | May 2021 • www.calfnews.net CALF ANIMAL HEALTH Chuteside Manner EXPLORING THE FRONTIER OF ANIMAL HEALTH Fetal Programming Scientific Advancement with Tragic Beginnings By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor I n the past few years, cattlemen have had opportunities to study and take advantage of fetal programming. By definition, it is the concept that a maternal stimulus or insult at a critical period in fetal development has long- term effects on the offspring (Funston et al., 2010). The October 2021 issue of Hereford World states that “as a fetus develops throughout the three trimesters of preg- nancy, the conditions it is exposed to affects the animal for the rest of its life.” Many of us are now familiar with the specific requirements these studies have recommended for cows in various stages of gestation. The research on fetal programming comes under the heading of epigenetics, the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. It is a concept hard to wrap one’s head around. A Sad Beginning The origin of this science took place in Holland, in 1944-45, as a result of World War II. It was called Honger- winter (Hunger Winter) by the Dutch. German-occupied Netherlands suffered starvation when Nazi troops blockaded food and fuel supplies from farm- ing areas. Densely populated western provinces suffered an estimated 18,000 to 22,000 deaths, and 4.5 million people survived mostly due to soup kitchens. According to Wikipedia, most of the deaths were reportedly elderly men. Fortunately for some, the Dutch anticipated this disaster and tens of thousands of children were relocated from the cities to rural areas where food was produced. They remained there safely until the war’s end. Food stocks dropped quickly in the fall of 1944, and by Feb. of 1945, the average caloric intake was a meager 580 per day. It was reported that people ate tulip bulbs and sugar beets to survive. The winter that year was particularly brutal; lack of fuel prompted people to burn their furniture and dismantle buildings to survive the cold. The famine finally ended in the summer of 1945, with the aid of Allied Forces. Scientific Opportunity The Hunger Winter was unique in that it happened in a modern, devel- oped, literate country. It was so well documented that it enabled scientists to measure the effects of starvation on human health. Of greatest interest was (and con- tinues to be) the effects on babies of pregnant women exposed to famine. As it turns out, this group, now aged 76, have been suffering the repercussions of fetal starvation their whole lives. According to a Jan. 31, 2018, New York Times article, Hongerwinter babies were more likely to become obese as children. Later in life, they had higher levels of triglycerides and LDL choles- terol. They continued to be susceptible to obesity. Diabetes and schizophrenia reared their ugly heads, and the women chronically produced underweight babies. Further studies have suggested that the grandchildren of Hongerwinter babies were also underweight. Those problems raked up a hefty toll. By the time these people reached the age of 68, they were suffering an increase in mortality of 10 percent. An Incredible Hypothesis Geneticists in the Netherlands and their many cohorts worldwide suggest that the Dutch HungerWinter silenced certain genes in unborn children, and that they’ve stayed quiet ever since. All cells in one’s body contain the same genes; differ- ent genes are active or silent in different cells. This is locked in place before birth. The complexity of changes in DNA due to various stressors in utero is so far reaching that the repercussions may take decades more to unravel. TOP: The science of epigenetics began with a humanitarian crisis in Holland during World War II. Valuable research on the effects of maternal nutrition has spilled over into animal science venues, shedding light on the harm starvation can play on both unborn humans and animals.