In females only, myostatin precursor and dimer expression was altered by both trans-generational under-nutrition and postnatal diet, demonstrated by the UNAD females having a lower (P < 0.05) expression than ADAD and ADUN contemporaries and the dimer expression of UNAD HF-fed females being lower (P < 0.05) than UNAD chow-fed females. Here, MSTN is linked to hydrops fetalis.