Polyphenols and IUGR pregnancies: effects of the antioxidant hydroxytyrosol on the hippocampus proteome in a porcine model

Supplementation of a mother’s diet with antioxidants such as hydroxytyrosol (HTX) has been proposed to ameliorate the adverse phenotypes of foetuses affected by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Our previous studies showed, in a porcine model of IUGR, an effect of maternal HTX supplementation on the neurotransmitter profile of several brain areas and the morphology of the hippocampus in 100 days old foetuses. The present study analyzed the impact of maternal HTX supplementation on the hippocampus proteome at this foetal age by TMT10plex labelling. Eleven differentially abundant proteins were identified by comparing both conditions, and eight of them downregulated and three upregulated in the HTX-treated group. The downregulated proteins were mainly involved in protein synthesis and RNA metabolism and may explain the differences in neuron differentiation in the HTX-treated group. The upregulated proteins were related to cell detoxification and could represent a potential mechanism to explain the neuroprotective effect of HTX.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (AGL2015-68463-C2-2-P to A.B. and projects AGL2013-48121-C3-R and AGL2016-79321-C2-1-R to A.G.B.), and co-funded by FEDER. N.Y. and M.V.-G. were the recipients of a graduate student fellowship from the Spanish FPU National Program Grant (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; number FPU17/01881 and FPU14/01285) and C.G.-C. is the recipient of an FPI National Program Grant (number BES-2014-070464)