Chinese scientists have revealed the characteristics of the metabolic changes of primates during pregnancy, which is expected to help the study of the mechanism of diseases during pregnancy.

Pregnancy induces dramatic metabolic changes in females, but the intricacies of this metabolic reprogramming have remained unclear, especially in primates, according to Huang Shiqiang with the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the corresponding authors of the study.

Exploring the characteristics and mechanisms of these adaptive changes is of great significance for the prevention of related diseases, Huang said.

Cynomolgus monkeys, or the crab-eating macaques, are similar to humans in terms of physiology, reproductive characteristics and pregnancy cycle, thus they were the ideal animal models to use in the study that focused on the pregnancy adaptation of the various tissues and organs in primate mothers.

Using cynomolgus monkeys, researchers constructed a comprehensive multi-tissue metabolome atlas, analyzing 273 samples from 23 maternal tissues during pregnancy.

They found that the monkeys experienced great metabolic disturbance and challenge during pregnancy, and metabolic reprogramming occurred in various tissues and organs.

The results of this research contribute to a better understanding of how primate females adapt to the metabolic challenges during pregnancy, and will also help enhance the study scope of the adaptive changes and regulatory mechanisms of their vital tissues and organs during primate pregnancy, said Wang Hongmei with the Institute of Zoology, another corresponding author of the study.

The study was recently published in the journal Cell.