Dietary Calcium and Phosphorus Amounts Affect Development and Tissue-Specific Stem Cell Characteristics in Neonatal Pigs

BACKGROUND: Dietary calcium and phosphorus are required for bone and muscle development. Deficiencies of these macrominerals reduce bone mineral and muscle accretion potentially via alterations of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and satellite cell (SC) activities. OBJECTIVES: With increasing interest in the role of early-life events on lifetime health outcomes, we aimed to elucidate the impact of dietary calcium and phosphorus, from deficiency through excess, on MSC and SC characteristics during neonatal development. METHODS: Neonatal pigs [30 females, 1-d-old, 1.46 +/- 0.04 kg body weight (BW)] were fed milk replacers for 16 d that were isonitrogenous and isocaloric with a consistent ratio of calcium to phosphorus, but either 25% deficient (calcium: 0.78%; phosphorus: 0.60%; CaPD), adequate (calcium: 1.08%; phosphorus: 0.84%; CaPA), or 25% in excess (calcium: 1.38%; phosphorus: 1.08%; CaPE) of calcium and phosphorus requirements based on sow-milk composition and extrapolation from NRC requirements for older pigs. BW and feed intake were recorded daily. Blood was collected for serum phosphorus, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) determination. Humeri were collected for MSC isolation and radii/ulnae bone were collected for analysis. Longissimus dorsi muscle was collected for SC isolation and analysis. RESULTS: There was 4.6% increase in bone ash percentage in CaPE- versus CaPD-fed pigs (P < 0.05). In vivo proliferation indicated a 41.3% increase in MSCs in CaPA compared with CaPD and a 19% increase in SCs in CaPA compared with both CaPE and CaPD. MSCs from CaPD had 2- to 5-fold greater expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4), and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) but lower osteocalcin (BGLAP) and fibronectin (FN1) expression than CaPA (P < 0.05). SCs from CaPD-fed pigs had 19% lower in vivo proliferation than in CaPA-fed pigs. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that feeding a diet marginally deficient in calcium and phosphorus to neonatal pigs had a great impact on bone development, MSC, and SC characteristics. These dietary deficiencies may program future bone health and muscle development by altering MSC and SC activities.