(P31-04-26) Maternal Intake of Opuntia ficus-indica (Nopal) During Late Gestation and Lactation Modulates Offspring Serum and Liver Metabolomes

Objectives: Increasing dietary fiber and bioactives in the maternal diet may improve offspring metabolism, yet mechanistic knowledge remains limited. Opuntia ficus-indica (nopal) is a climate-resilient, functional food rich in complex dietary fibers, minerals and phytochemicals with growing interest in animal and human nutrition. We designed a study to examine the application of nopal in the context of maternal-offspring nutritional programming in pigs using a metabolomics approach.

Methods: Eighteen gilts (TOPIGS® Z-line) were stratified by weight and randomly assigned to either control (standard gestation and lactation feed) (n=9) or nopal group (standard gestation and lactation feed with 5% nopal (w/w)) (n=9). The intervention started on gestation day 76 and lasted until lactation day 21 (weaning). Weaned piglets remained housed with littermates and received standard nursery diets. Piglet serum and liver samples were collected post-weaning from 1 male and 1 female per litter (n=36, age:33.3 +/-3.0 days). Targeted metabolomics analysis was performed using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. 81 serum and 61 liver metabolites were quantified. Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) was applied to determine effect of nopal supplementation on the metabolome. Differential abundance testing and effect size calculations per-metabolite were performed with Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple comparisons.

Results: The piglet serum metabolome was significantly different with maternal nopal supplementation (PERMANOVA: F=2.13, R²=0.059, p=0.013), while the liver metabolome was not (PERMANOVA: F=1.23, R²=0.035, p=0.234). Serum concentrations of energy-related metabolites (malate, fumarate, succinate, pyruvate, lactate) and 3-methyl-2-oxovalerate were significantly higher in piglets from nopal-fed sows (pFDR < 0.05, Cliff’s δ=0.57-0.81). Malate and fumarate followed the same pattern in liver tissue (pFDR < 0.05, Cliff’s δ=0.64-0.69).

Conclusions: Maternal nopal intake was associated with higher concentrations of energy-related metabolites in piglet serum and liver during the post-weaning period, suggesting that maternal diet influences offspring metabolic response to weaning.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by the PIG-PARADIGM project, funded by Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNFSA210073688).