Chen Xiao-jun;Bai Xia;Mai Pei;Cai Jie;Liu Zhao-ying;Wang Hui;Xiao Hong-bo;Dong Wei;Wang Shui-lian;Sun Zhi-liang

Hunan Agr Univ, Coll Vet Med, Changsha 410128, Hunan, Peoples R China;Engn Res Ctr Vet Drugs Hunan Prov, Changsha 410311, Hunan, Peoples R China

angiopoietin-like protein 3;clone;pregnancy toxemia;goat

Pregnancy toxemia is a metabolic disorder of lipid and glucose. Recent investigations have found that angiopoictin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) can contribute to disorder of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The present study was conducted to investigate the change of ANGPTL3 expression during pregnancy toxemia. We firstly cloned the full-length cDNA of ANGPTL3 in Liuyang Black goats, revealing that goat ANGPTL3 had the typical structure of the angiopoietin-like family, and its mRNA was exclusively expressed in liver. Pregnancy toxemia of pregnant goat does with twins during late gestation was induced by being fasted for 72 h, and then they were recovered after 5 d of refeeding. Hepatic ANGPTL3 gene expression was significantly down-regulated concomitantly with decreased scrum glucose concentration, elevated serum beta-hydroxybutyrate and free fatty acid levels in pregnant toxemic goats, and these changes were reversed after refeeding. These results suggest ANGPTL3 may play a certain role in the development of pregnancy toxemia in goats.