Maternal egg yolk supplementation alters offspring liver choline status and is associated with functional network activation and monoamine metabolism in a sow-piglet model.

Maternal nutrition plays a major role in neurodevelopment. This study hypothesized that maternal egg yolk supplementation will influence offspring choline concentrations, and these changes will be associated with resting-state network (RSN) activation and monoamine neurochemistry at weaning. Sows were fed a control (CON; n = 6) or an egg yolk-supplemented diet (EGG; n = 5) from gestation day 70 to weaning at postnatal day 21, and piglet liver and plasma were collected (CON, n = 24; EGG, n = 20) for choline and metabolite quantification at weaning. Maternal egg yolk supplementation increased liver choline and methionine concentrations in piglets (p < .05). Given our previous findings that egg yolk supplementation elevated executive control and cerebellar functional activation, the associations between metabolites and RSNs were examined. Liver choline was correlated with executive (r = 0.4584) and auditory network activation (r = -0.4751), while plasma choline was correlated with visual network activation (r = 0.5295) (p < .05). As we previously reported that maternal egg yolk supplementation altered piglet monoamine homeostasis, its links to choline and metabolite concentrations were assessed. Liver choline was associated with anterior hippocampal norepinephrine (r = 0.3275) and cerebellar serotonin metabolism (r = 0.3043) and liver TMAO was associated with anterior hippocampal norepinephrine (r = 0.3896), while plasma choline was linked to caudate serotonin (r = 0.3902) and dopamine (r = -0.3763) metabolism (p < .05). Overall, maternal egg yolk supplementation altered offspring choline and metabolite status, which was associated with RSNs and monoamines. These findings broaden our understanding of how one-carbon metabolite status may relate to neurochemical and functional brain outcomes in offspring.