Follicular metabolic alterations are associated with obesity in mares and can be mitigated by dietary supplementation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Follicular metabolic alterations are associated with obesity in mares and can be mitigated by dietary supplementation Giovana D Catandi, Kyle J Fresa, Ming-Hao Cheng, Luke A Whitcomb, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3870557/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 30 Mar, 2024 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Obesity is a growing concern in human and equine populations, predisposing to metabolic pathologies and reproductive disturbances. Cellular lipid accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction play an important role in the pathologic consequences of obesity, which may be mitigated by dietary interventions targeting these processes. We hypothesized that obesity in the mare promotes follicular lipid accumulation and altered mitochondrial function of oocytes and granulosa cells, potentially contributing to impaired fertility in this population. We also predicted that these effects could be mitigated by dietary supplementation with a combination of targeted nutrients to improve follicular cell metabolism. Twenty mares were grouped as: Normal Weight (NW, n = 6, BCS 5.7±0.3), Obese (OB, n = 7, BCS 7.7±0.2), and Obese Diet Supplemented (OBD, n = 7, BCS 7.7±0.2), and fed specific feed regimens for ≥ 6 weeks before sampling. Granulosa cells, follicular fluid, and cumulus-oocyte complexes were collected from follicles ≥ 35 mm during estrus and after induction of maturation. Obesity promoted several mitochondrial metabolic disturbances in granulosa cells, reduced L-carnitine availability in the follicle, promoted lipid accumulation in cumulus cells and oocytes, and increased basal oocyte metabolism. Diet supplementation of a complex nutrient mixture mitigated most of the metabolic changes in the follicles of obese mares, resulting in parameters similar to NW mares. In conclusion, obesity disturbs the equine ovarian follicle by promoting lipid accumulation and altering mitochondrial function. These effects may be partially mitigated with targeted nutritional intervention, thereby potentially improving fertility outcomes in the obese female. Biological sciences/Developmental biology Health sciences/Diseases/Metabolic disorders Health sciences/Diseases/Reproductive disorders Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendixfinal011524.docx SupplementaryFilesfinal011524.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 30 Mar, 2024 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 07 Feb, 2024 Reviews received at journal 01 Feb, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Jan, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jan, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Jan, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 18 Jan, 2024 Editor invited by journal 18 Jan, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Jan, 2024 First submitted to journal 16 Jan, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3870557","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":268009013,"identity":"1433e832-ccea-430e-9558-05dae9319732","order_by":0,"name":"Giovana D Catandi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giovana","middleName":"D","lastName":"Catandi","suffix":""},{"id":268009014,"identity":"95be7e39-59ce-451c-b1f2-dbe8adedac52","order_by":1,"name":"Kyle J Fresa","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kyle","middleName":"J","lastName":"Fresa","suffix":""},{"id":268009015,"identity":"3b473447-464c-4bfc-a319-7415f9593ffe","order_by":2,"name":"Ming-Hao Cheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ming-Hao","middleName":"","lastName":"Cheng","suffix":""},{"id":268009016,"identity":"65d816f3-f10a-40b3-b22e-194be76a2541","order_by":3,"name":"Luke A Whitcomb","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Luke","middleName":"A","lastName":"Whitcomb","suffix":""},{"id":268009017,"identity":"789007de-c740-456f-bbd9-6f0fafae677d","order_by":4,"name":"Corey D Broeckling","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Corey","middleName":"D","lastName":"Broeckling","suffix":""},{"id":268009018,"identity":"3126d205-9093-41a1-b298-a3bf1aa81535","order_by":5,"name":"Thomas W Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"W","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":268009019,"identity":"bbc8d8b6-4c3e-42a2-b882-73d6e69f332b","order_by":6,"name":"Adam J Chicco","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adam","middleName":"J","lastName":"Chicco","suffix":""},{"id":268009020,"identity":"c7498537-0bf6-4422-a9fb-5d0fa032c378","order_by":7,"name":"Elaine M Carnevale","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elaine","middleName":"M","lastName":"Carnevale","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-16 17:29:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3870557/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3870557/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58323-0","type":"published","date":"2024-03-30T14:49:28+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":53786930,"identity":"d8e1af93-ab9f-495a-a194-49cdd31a06dd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-30 14:49:36","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":402029,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ObesityFollicleManuscriptfinal011524.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3870557/v1_covered_ef330ec2-ed88-48ff-a1b5-c850b544b190.pdf"},{"id":49891346,"identity":"fa469257-5a22-4e24-a205-f006e349ca51","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-19 20:28:05","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":20936,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendixfinal011524.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3870557/v1/738ea28fef8faac8338a9f65.docx"},{"id":49891347,"identity":"0a6d4b99-f5e0-42d3-b7f3-812e8638fda8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-19 20:28:05","extension":"docx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":152589,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryFilesfinal011524.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3870557/v1/12d5eb4c5a22cfab9f6318e0.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Follicular metabolic alterations are associated with obesity in mares and can be mitigated by dietary supplementation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3870557/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3870557/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eObesity is a growing concern in human and equine populations, predisposing to metabolic pathologies and reproductive disturbances. Cellular lipid accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction play an important role in the pathologic consequences of obesity, which may be mitigated by dietary interventions targeting these processes. We hypothesized that obesity in the mare promotes follicular lipid accumulation and altered mitochondrial function of oocytes and granulosa cells, potentially contributing to impaired fertility in this population. We also predicted that these effects could be mitigated by dietary supplementation with a combination of targeted nutrients to improve follicular cell metabolism. Twenty mares were grouped as: Normal Weight (NW, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6, BCS 5.7\u0026plusmn;0.3), Obese (OB, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7, BCS 7.7\u0026plusmn;0.2), and Obese Diet Supplemented (OBD, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7, BCS 7.7\u0026plusmn;0.2), and fed specific feed regimens for \u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;6 weeks before sampling. Granulosa cells, follicular fluid, and cumulus-oocyte complexes were collected from follicles \u0026ge; 35 mm during estrus and after induction of maturation. Obesity promoted several mitochondrial metabolic disturbances in granulosa cells, reduced L-carnitine availability in the follicle, promoted lipid accumulation in cumulus cells and oocytes, and increased basal oocyte metabolism. Diet supplementation of a complex nutrient mixture mitigated most of the metabolic changes in the follicles of obese mares, resulting in parameters similar to NW mares. In conclusion, obesity disturbs the equine ovarian follicle by promoting lipid accumulation and altering mitochondrial function. These effects may be partially mitigated with targeted nutritional intervention, thereby potentially improving fertility outcomes in the obese female.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Follicular metabolic alterations are associated with obesity in mares and can be mitigated by dietary supplementation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-01-19 20:28:00","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3870557/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-02-07T06:01:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-02-01T18:33:23+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"39725519-b6e2-4819-a7ff-dc44b7ff3240","date":"2024-01-22T08:06:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"e8ffe822-27ee-4c6b-aaca-2a5f5da3521f","date":"2024-01-18T23:53:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-01-18T18:51:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-01-18T10:59:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2024-01-18T09:49:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-01-18T09:47:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2024-01-16T17:23:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c4976f3e-98a4-4936-ac17-9b6ea97cb0c9","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 19th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":28240983,"name":"Biological sciences/Developmental biology"},{"id":28240984,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Metabolic disorders"},{"id":28240985,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Reproductive disorders"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-03-30T14:49:28+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-3870557","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58323-0","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2024-03-30 14:49:28","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 30th, 2024"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-01-19 20:28:00","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-024-58323-0","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58323-0","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3870557","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3870557","identity":"rs-3870557","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}
Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below.
Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure
cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can
have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy
(via DOI)
is the canonical version.