Understanding the impact of different environmental stressors across developmental stages on the hepatic metabolome

Gomez, Andrea Nayeli

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130207 Copy

Description

Title

Understanding the impact of different environmental stressors across developmental stages on the hepatic metabolome

Author(s)

Gomez, Andrea Nayeli

Issue Date

2025-07-18

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Rodriguez-Zas, Sandra L

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Rodriguez-Zas, Sandra L

Committee Member(s)

• Southey, Bruce
• Villamil, Maria B
• McCulloch, Kathryn M

Department of Study

Animal Sciences

Discipline

Animal Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• environmental stressors
• hepatic metabolome
• liver metabolism
• metabolomics
• fasting
• Poly (I:C)
• maternal immune activation
• postnatal stress
• liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Environmental stressors during critical developmental periods can shift the metabolic trajectory of vital organs, with effects that often last well beyond the initial exposure. The liver, which manages nutrient sensing, detoxification, and immune balance, seems especially sensitive to both prenatal and postnatal disruptions. This work examined how nutritional and immune stress, before and after birth, affect liver metabolism in male and female pigs using untargeted Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry metabolomics. Short-term fasting and immune challenge each left distinct molecular signatures, but fasting had the most widespread impact, particularly on amino acid metabolism, vitamin pathways, and energy-related metabolites. When maternal immune activation was introduced as a prenatal stressor, baseline metabolic profiles were altered, and the liver’s response to postnatal challenges changed in a condition-dependent way. Many of these shifts were sex-specific, with males showing greater sensitivity in several key pathways, including one-carbon metabolism and amino acid turnover. Across different stress conditions, certain pathways like SLC-mediated transport and bile acid regulation, appeared repeatedly, which suggest that these systems may serve as shared targets of metabolic adaptation. These findings add to growing evidence that the liver’s ability to respond to stress is not fixed but shaped over time by early exposures. A better understanding of how the liver processes stress during development could help us explain why some individuals seem more vulnerable to disease later in life. This work also highlights the importance of considering both sex and timing when evaluating metabolic responses to environmental insults. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for identifying more tailored strategies to support liver health in vulnerable populations.

Graduation Semester

2025-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130207

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Andrea Gomez

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